City of Evil
by CityofEvil666
Summary: People lived their lives normally in Seattle, Washington with not much to worry about. But when a strange infection spreads throughout the world, turning people into flesh eating zombies, people struggle to survive as they fight to live against the disease, the dead, and the living. Rated T, will change. SYOC CLOSED FOR NOW, WILL OPEN UP LATER.
1. OC Format and Prelude

**Prelude**

The wound reopened and blood started to seep through his clothes, painting the concrete. The crescent moon was high in the sky, almost completely covered by ashes of burning bodies and buildings. The boy ran down the street, trying to catch his breath as he ran for his life. The bleeding only made it worse. Eventually his eyes watered and his head throbbed, causing him to slow down.

The boy looked behind himself, seeing as those things weren't chasing him anymore. He sighed in relief as he looked down at his hip. There was a giant gash in it, oozing with blood. The sight of it made him woozy as he continued to limp down the sidewalk. He wouldn't be surprised if any survivors mistook him for one of Them, with all the blood and muck covering his clothes and face.

He clinched his teeth tightly when the pain began to flare up the side of his arm again. He groaned, his head feeling really light from the loss of blood. The roads were completely empty, the street lights flickering lightly. It was intimidating to walk against. What caught his attention however was the light in someone's house, along with moving shadows. He couldn't be too sure on if that was a survivor or the walking dead, but he decided to take his chances anyways.

He stumbled over to the front door and started to bang on it. "Hey!" he called. "Hey, if anyone's in there... c-can you help me? Please! I'm hurt," he begged. The boy could hear something drop in the inside, along with silent murmurs. _Good,_ he thought, _They're human._

"Please let me in. I can't walk much more before I pass out." He looked down at the doorknob and placed his hand on it. He twisted it lightly, watching as it made a click noise and opened. He only assumed they unlocked it. "Thank you," he said, "I thought I was going to die out there-"

BANG!

The boy screamed, the bullet ripping through his right shoulder and shooting right out of the other side. He fell onto his back, watching as blood poured out of both his hip and now his shoulder. Everything went numb and his heart was beating irregularly. Breaths came out uneven and sweat dripped down the sides of his face. He was really dying.

"Daddy! Why'd you do that?!" he heard a girl's voice cry, though everything sounded muffled since his ears were ringing. "He might not have been one of Them!" she cried.

"You don't know what you're talking about. Beside, I missed," a deep voice said, standing up as he pointed the gun at the teen's face. "Daddy don't!" A girl came running over to the boy shielding him from her father's gun. She looked no older than him. "Don't shoot him; he can still be saved-"

"There's no saving the dead!"

"But we don't know if he was going to turn!" She looked down at the boy's wounds. "These aren't bite marks Daddy. That's a gash wound! He probably got hit by something!" She snapped her fingers in front of his face, seeing he was about to pass out from lack of blood. "Were you bitten?" she asked.

The boy started crying silently as he whimpered, "No... No."

"See Daddy I told you! Don't worry, we're gonna get you patched up," she said, wiping sweat off of his forehead. "Go get the first aid kit! Hurry!" Her dad went out of the boy's vision, which was blurry. His breathing once rapid was now slowly turning into nothing along with his heart. The light was blinding and he squinted his eyes.

"Try and stay awake. Do you have a name? What's your name?" she asked.

Before the boy could answer, his eyelids grew heavy and he whispered out something she couldn't comprehend. He began to recall on all the mishaps he got himself in before all of this happened. Where it all began...

* * *

**Welcome my children, Welcome. I hope the prelude managed to suck you into this story because I can guaranteed that it's going to be a good one. For now, I am Cassie V. or as my username goes I am CityofEvil666. This is a SYOC story for all of you HOTD lovers. There is no official due date, and I'll explain in the rules below how everything will go down. So let the games begin my friends. :}**

**_DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE SERIES HOTD OR ANY CHARACTERS THAT DON'T BELONG TO ME. I ONLY OWN THE IDEA TO THIS PARTICULAR FANFIC AND MY OWN OC._  
**

**Rules/Info:**

**1. There is no official due date  
2. I'm accepting six high school students, seven townies and three soldiers  
3. Do NOT make your OC a Mary/Gary Stu (a perfect character), they will not be accepted  
4. Be as descriptive as possible. The more descriptive, the more likely they'll be accepted.  
5. Be as realistic as possible! This is not a fantasy story, this is reality zombie story, so be realistic!  
6. You can send up to three OC's, but they can't be dating each other, and it can't be a love triangle thing. Otherwise I'll kill them quick and easy  
7. By all means be creative and have fun typing it  
8. This story takes place in Seattle, Washington  
9. There is no school uniform  
10. PM THE OC TO ME OR I WILL NOT ACCEPT THEM (UNLESS YOU CAN'T PM)**

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**OC Format!**

**GENERAL**

**Name:**

**Nickname(s): (optional)**

**Age:**

**Birthday: (Month/Day #)**

**Gender:**

**Rank: (If they are a soldier, what rank are they?)**

**Nationality:  
**

**Sexuality: (Heterosexual, Homosexual, Bi-Sexual, etc.)**

**Race:**

* * *

**APPEARANCE**

**Skin Color:  
**

**Eye Color: (I will not accept eye colors like purple or pink)**

**Hair Style:**

**Hair Color:**

**Body Type:**

**Height/Weight:**

**Scars/Tattoos/Piercings/Other:**

**School clothing: (what are they wearing at school)**

**First Outfit:**

**Second Outfit: (optional)**

* * *

**HISTORY/BACKGROUND**

**Background: (Be as descriptive as possible. But please, don't make an angst filled background unless you truly think it's original and good. Don't make it too long though)**

**Family: (Name, Age, Occupation, Status(if they're alive or not during the story))**

* * *

**PERSONALITY**

**Personality: (Be as descriptive, to the point and creative as possible)**

**Strengths: (Maximum is 4, no more than that)**

**Weaknesses: (Minimum is 4, no less than that)**

**Likes:**

**Dislikes:**

**Talents:**

**Special Attributes:**

**Mental Illnesses: (optional)**

**Medical Illnesses: (optional)**

**School Status: (What's their reputation in the school? Popular, goth, loner, etc.)**

**Theme Song: (A song that reminds you of your OC)**

**Reaction to Zombies:**

**Opinion on my OC: (what you're character thinks of my OC)**

**Love Interest: (What they like in a person or what they go for)**

* * *

**EXTRA**

**Do They Have a Car?: (Now, if they do, don't make it something super expensive like a Lamborghini)  
**

**School Weapon: (Be realistic. Think of something you could find in a school)**

**Town Weapon: (One main weapon, one side arm, and one melee. No more than that)**

**Preferred Death: (If they die, how would you want them too. This is not a promised death for them)**

**Suggestions on Zombies: (what types of zombies would you like to see?)**

**Other Information:**

* * *

**Alright, that's your OC Format. Here's my character (make sure to read him)**

* * *

**GENERAL**

**Name: Duncan Sanders**

**Nickname(s): Dunce**

**Age: 17**

**Birthday: December 27**

**Gender: Male**

**Rank: N/A**

**Town/School: School**

**Nationality: Russian-American  
**

**Sexuality: Heterosexual**

**Race: Caucasian**

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**APPEARANCE**

**Skin Color: Slightly tanned fair skin  
**

**Eye Color: Hazel**

**Hair Style: Short and Cropped**

**Hair Color: Really dark brown, nearly black**

**Body Type: Slight fit, skinny, a little muscular**

**Height/Weight: 6'1, 178 lbs**

**Scars/Tattoos/Piercings/Other: He has a black lip ring on his left, lower lip. He has a couple of gashes and marks from fights**

**School clothing: Yellow t-shirt with a black zip up hoodie over it. Dark, slightly baggy denim jeans, black combat boots and a dog tag that says "D" on it.**

**First Outfit: Blue, plaid button down with the first three buttons undone, revealing a black t-shirt. Gray cargo pants and he's still wearing the black combat boots with his dog tags.**

**Second Outfit: An Army uniform from one of the soldiers.**

* * *

**HISTORY/BACKGROUND**

**Background: Duncan was born in Detroit, Michigan with his Mother and Father. Being an only child, he was all his parents paid attention to and it was pretty easy living. Both his parents were in the military, with his mom being a medic and his dad being a marine. Whenever they both had to leave, he'd stay with his grandma who was fierce and stern but still loved him very much. Because his parents were in the military, he never staid in any home too long, making it hard for him to make friends. He never had a close friend for longer than two months before he had to move again, thus he never really talked to a lot of people. People use to bully him for never really saying anything, and being the aggressive kid he was, he never stood for it. He'd fight back when people messed with him. Because of all the fights he got in, many of the teachers didn't like him and he was known as a ****delinquent. He soon was given the nickname "Dunce" which he now prefers to be call. He was suspended a couple of times and it was hard for his parents to keep track of him because of their work. Duncan continued to fight people at school until people knew better than to bother him. Because of this though, a lot of people were too intimidated to talk to him. His middle school days were lonely. One day, Duncan was beaten up by a group of boys and was stabbed by one of them. He was sent to the hospital and nearly died. Since then, he stopped fighting people, and his bullies found him weak and continued to pursue him. His mother retired from the military and the whole family moved to Seattle, Washington. Wanting to cover his past up, Duncan became a really passive person, and would rather use words than his fist to keep from getting in fights. To pass the time of high school, he'd go around doing parkour with a couple of friend. It was fun for him and helped him release anger; every now and then he'd even be a courier and bring packages and mail to people. Throughout high school he was bullied for his silence, but never spoke against it. Before the breakout, everything was a rigid line to him.**

**Family:**

**Father, Billy Sanders, 48, A Major in the USMC, Alive  
Mother, Amanda Sanders, 46, Unemployed, Alive**

* * *

**PERSONALITY**

**Personality: Duncan doesn't talk much, only to close friends. He's passive; people almost always get away with anything they do to him. He's forgiving too, he's quick to forgive people for possibly hurting him or for making a mistake. He tries to understand people and isn't one to judge other from their appearance but rather their personality. He's humorous when he wants to be, and once you get into his close guarded shell, he's actually very social and nice. He lets off the look that he doesn't give a f*ck which at times intimidates people (especially women) from talking to him. He often looks tired and bored; like anywhere could be better than where he is now. Because he doesn't get mad at people, he holds in his anger and want to fight. Push him too far and he'll let it out in a very aggressive, impulsive and savage way. Above all though, he is very caring and intelligent.**

**Strengths: Intelligent, Strong, Can shoot a gun and knows parkour**

**Weaknesses: Lacks communication: He's not social so he will have a hard time communicating with the group. He is extremely passive. He sometimes doesn't think before preforming actions and is very reserved**

**Likes: Playing the acoustic guitar, big dogs, stargazing, talking to his mom, cooking, candy, children, his friends, spiders and guns**

**Dislikes: Snakes, classical music, weather that's too hot, loud mouthed people, his bullies, bitter tasting foods and being judged**

**Talents: Playing guitar, shooting, Parkour**

**Special Attributes: Athletic Skills/Fighting Skills, Knows Parkour, Medical Skills**

**Mental Illnesses: N/A**

**Medical Illnesses: N/A**

**School Status: Loner**

**Theme Song: The Bird and The Worm by The Used**

**Reaction to Zombies: Devastated, scared and hopeless on the inside, but determined on the outside.**

**Love Interest: He likes girls who are understanding and nice or fierce, independent and confident. Has a thing for brunettes, but will settle for anyone eventually.**

* * *

**EXTRA**

**Do They Have a Car?: He owns a red 2002 Toyota Camry with tinted windows  
**

**School Weapon: An Easton Metal Baseball Bat**

**Town Weapon: .50 cal Sniper silenced, Glock 19 silenced and his metal baseball bat**

**Other Information: N/A**

* * *

**Well here's my character. I hope you liked him, and I hope I'll like your OC's too. So until we meet again, see you all soon!**


	2. Introduction

**Introduction:**

_For years, scientist have tried for many years to create cures for common colds and diseases with little or no progress. Despite the deaths, people in the world managed to live life as it was. After much trial-and-error, the people managed to create a cure to cancer. The world became happier and death tolls decreased by shocking amounts. As the years went on however, those death tolls became higher than normal and pretty soon people started getting even more sick. No one expected this outcome to turn into a zombie outbreak, and many couldn't believe it when it happened. But now, everyone lives in a world where they must fight for their lives against the undead, the living, soldiers, and even themselves. This is the story about a group of high school students struggling to survive and adapt to their new world of the dead._

_****__DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE SERIES HOTD OR ANY CHARACTERS THAT DON'T BELONG TO ME. I ONLY OWN THE IDEA TO THIS PARTICULAR FANFIC AND MY OWN OC._

* * *

**OK, well I didn't get much people, but I got enough to fill in every slot, except for about three people. The school slots are all taken so I won't accept anymore people for the school. However, the town slots are always open for anyone. So, I will keep the OC Format sheet up if you ever want to PM me a character for the city, or anymore soldiers. For now, I will start with the characters from the school.**

* * *

**Here are the selected main characters from the high school:**

**********1. Duncan Sanders - CityofEvil666  
2. Liana Josephine Richards - Patty Loves Giraffes  
3. Celeste Monroe - Awesomestprime8  
4. ****Daisy Sasori**** - Phooka-Chan**  
5. Ianthe Deveroux - jelly on this hot god  
6. David Reiss - RicBP  
7. Carlos Charbonneau - Arm-flailing-Carlos

**********Now, just because your character made it, does not me their life is safe. I will kill some people eventually and invite new people. So don't feel bummed out about how everything is going. Plus, I can guaranteed that I'll like your character a lot more if you show your interest in the story by reviewing your thoughts. I accept criticism and I truly want to know what you guys think about everything. I'm not the fastest writer in the world but you won't have to wait forever for a chapter to be updated.**

* * *

**********I didn't include the town people because the list will always change, but everyone who put their person in the town or is a soldier got accepted.**

**********Like I said before, the OC Format is still open to any characters, so fill free to send in more OCs. But for now, the story will be starting. Sorry the due date was so short, but I received a lot of people in this short 24 hours. So see you all soon. :)**


	3. The Uprise

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! So now here's the moment you've all been waiting for! The Story! I'm just as excited to hear what you guys think of it as much as you may be excited to read it. OK, I won't lie - this chapter starts off really slow so character development could be placed (and it's kind of long), but I can guaranteed that you'll like the story. Please review your criticism and opinion on everything. There won't be an A/N (Author's Note) on every chapter, unless I feel social. This is the last time I'm putting a disclaimer up, and being as I'm from Seattle and grew up there my whole life, I can be sure that the place will be A-OK, not out of character AT ALL. Now, without any further do, please enjoy my story  
****(^-^)/**

**P.S. Don't feel like I'm just describing my character, everyone's characters and houses will be described the same. Thanks :)**

* * *

_**Full Summary: For years, scientists have tried for many years to create cures for common colds and diseases with little or no progress. Despite the deaths, people in the world managed to live life as it was. After much trial-and-error, the people managed to create a cure to cancer. The world became happier and death tolls decreased by shocking amounts. As the years went on however, those death tolls became higher than normal and pretty soon people started getting even sicker. No one expected this outcome to turn into a zombie outbreak, and many people couldn't believe it when it happened. But now, everyone lives in a world where they must fight for their lives against the undead, the living, soldiers, and even themselves. Read this zombie apocalypse story about a group of high school students struggling to survive and adapt to their new world of the dead.**_

**WARNING: The following content contains violence, blood and gore, swearing, torture, sexual themes and some disturbing content. Rating will change to M, reader's discretion is advised.**

_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE SERIES HOTD OR ANY CHARACTERS THAT DON'T BELONG TO ME. I ONLY OWN THE IDEA TO THIS PARTICULAR FANFIC AND MY OWN OC.**_

* * *

**City of Evil  
****ACT I: Dead City**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Uprise**

"Who even listens to that band anymore?!" a girl laughed.

"I listen to them sometimes... it make good guitar music," a boy answered.

The sun was at its highest peak in the sky, providing barely any warmth on this October day in Seattle, Washington. It was mid-noon, students from Holland High School were either already gone at home, hanging out with friends downtown or sticking around the school for detention... or other reasons.

Sitting in the band room were two students in particular by themselves. They were surrounded by instruments and band equipment. The boy's name was Duncan Sanders, though he preferred to go by Dunce, an old nickname he'd gained from both the students and the teachers. He wasn't super tall for a seventeen year old, with hazel eyes, shortly cropped brown hair (which was nearly black) and a lip ring. Sitting beside him on one of the chairs was a girl named Celeste Monroe with dyed red hair that went to her mid-back, fawn skin, brown eyes and a breast size a pervert could gawk at for days.

Duncan sat on the chair parallel to her , holding a black acoustic guitar with a Gears of War logo on the corner of it. "I don't know, I could never really get into their music much," Celeste commented, twirling a finger lightly through her disheveled bangs. Duncan leaned back in his seat, playing a song called "Far From Home" by Five Finger Death Punch. It filled the air of the band room with a calming atmosphere.

"Well, we all have different taste in music now don't we?" he said tiredly. He continued to play and the room grew quiet from words; whenever he messed up, he'd swear under his breath lightly. "How's your band working out... um "Dreamer"... is what it's called right?" he asked.

"Sheesh, are we that unpopular here?! The band's going find; we got a couple of gigs in Downtown Tacoma and Seattle. We haven't gotten super lucky yet though," she said, cocking her head to the side lightly. "Nice," Duncan complimented.

A door to the band room's office opened and a grown man came out, looking at the two students. "I'm locking the place up. You guys can come back tomorrow," he said, locking the office door. Duncan put his guitar in the case, throwing a plaid white and blue backpack over his shoulders as he started towards the door along with Celeste. "See ya later Mr. Anderson," Celeste waved lightly. "Yeah, see ya," Duncan also weakly waved.

The two of them walked through the school parking lot, searching for their cars. "Hey," Celeste suddenly said, "have those assholes been buggin' you still?"

"When aren't they?" Duncan replied, sighing slightly.

"Why do you put up with that? If I were you, I'd show those fuckers the what-for!" she made hand gestures with her fist. Duncan chuckled lightly, making it to his red 2002 Toyota Camry. "Yeah, we all know you would Cell. Don't get me wrong, I'm no pacifist... but they'll get bored eventually," Duncan explained.

"You sure are living up to your nickname Dunce," she teased. Duncan laughed lightly as he opened his car door, putting his guitar in the passenger's seat. "Well, see ya tomorrow Dunce! Maybe this weekend too, if my Dad lightens up a bit," she waved, walking away. "Yeah, bye!" he waved.

Duncan stepped into his car, buckling his seat belt as he put the key in the ignition. "You are now listening to the Rock on channel 99.9!" the radio announcer exclaimed. The seventeen year old pulled out of the drive-way and started down the road.

As Duncan drove down the roads in Downtown Seattle, he noticed a couple of blocked off streets with police standing near the blockades. It's been like this for a week now; the news rarely give any information the towns folk can't conclude already, so Duncan eventually stopped trying to find out why this has been happening and continued with his life. Not too long ago, the cure to cancer and the common cold has been created, and a lot of people took the antidote. Death tolls dropped dramatically and people no longer had to worry about the fear from dying of illnesses like that. But now, people are dying again, and the cause of it is unknown to the public because when they tried to find out they fail... or they don't really want to know why to begin with.

After about fifty minutes of driving through the traffic of Downtown, he reached a bricked apartment building. It was located in what some people may call the "projects" or "a really ghetto neighbor". Duncan never had a problem with the neighborhood; sure it could be better, but his neighbors were nice to him, and he could always look out the window and expect something interesting to happen.

Duncan parked his car, grabbing his bags and making sure to lock it when he got out and headed into the building. As usual, a homeless man sat near the doorstep, wearing a giant snow coat and having a cigarette placed between his beard covered lips. He looked up and saw Duncan, smiling to himself. "Hey, there's my man," he coughed. Duncan dug in his pocket and handed the man five dollars. "Thanks man, you alright," he said. Duncan waved slightly as he made his way up to the fourth floor, to apartment room "K12".

He quickly noticed a small sheet of notebook paper nailed to the door as he ripped it off. Written in cursive, it read, "Dunce, your father and I have gone to the grocery story. Be back in a few. Love, Mom."

Duncan crumbled the piece of paper and unlocked the door as he went inside. The apartment itself was small; just about all of its features were viewed as soon as you stepped through the front door. Except for the kitchen and bathroom being in white tiled, the flooring was a tan carpet and the walls were as white and slightly stained like droplets of mud dropped on snow. To the right was the whole living room with its leather couches, coffee table and flat screen TV. To the left was the kitchen and directly across from him was a small hallway with three doors: the bathroom, his room and his parent's room. By now through the window in the kitchen, he could see the sun was setting and it was close to the end of evening time.

The boy threw his backpack on the floor near the couch and set his guitar case next to it. Immediately grabbing everything he needed, he went into the bathroom where he took a long and brooding shower. The warm, rushing water bouncing off of bruised skin calmed him, letting him forget about today's struggles. He's a really patient guy, but he has his limits. There's not much he can do to relieve stress either... nothing that's helpful anyways; his only real stress relieving hobby is parkour. In high school, being passive apparently meant a lot of bullies and literally no friends. He didn't care much though. _One more year and I'm done with it all,_ he told himself.

Once he finished and exited the shower, putting on his blue boxers and white tank top, he went into his room. It was cubed shaped, a window across from him and covered by black curtains, a bed with white covers in the corner and a dresser below the window. On the floor were clothes, magazines and other junk his mother would chide him to clean up later. For now he was just tired though.

Without any second thought, he fell asleep.

**...**

"Have a nice day at school sweet-heart!"

"I will, see ya Mom."

Duncan gave his mom a hug and she kissed him on the forehead, watching as he walked out of apartment room. He walked down the stairs; wearing a yellow t-shirt under a halfway zipped up black hoodie, his slightly baggy denim jeans scrapping against his legs.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs near the door, he was a little surprised to not see that the old man wasn't sitting there like he always was. _Odd,_ Duncan thought as he exited the building. Duncan threw his backpack into the car and hopped in himself, starting down the road as he headed to school.

The roads were surprisingly empty for some reason (well, for Seattle's standards anyways). Few cars drove down the road and when they did, they were speeding. "Honestly, where is everyone today?" he mumbled to himself. On a normal day, he'd be paranoid about this sort of thing, but being as it was the morning, he was too tired to really think about it. Even when a couple of cop cars sped past him, he didn't think about it. He was relieved to see that everyone at the school was there like normal. It was a pretty big school, packed with over 700 students in it.

Duncan parked in the parking lot and exited the car, making his way into the school. He walked through crowds and past students who barely knew he existed. He had wished it'd stayed that way when he entered the school, but didn't take long for two boys to notice he came in and approach him. "Hey Dunce, you're here early," he said, walking over to him.

"Not really," he replied, keeping his face expression blank. The boy on the right, who was tall and burly, scoffed to himself as he looked over to his friend. "It speaks!" he mocked. Duncan put a fake surprised expression on his face and raised his hands a bit. "Yeah!" he sarcastically exclaimed, "Who would of thought a human being speaks! It's amazing! Go spread the word quick!"

The two boys towered over him, but he stood tall. "Are you gettin' smart with me Dunce?" he asked.

"Am I?" Duncan snapped back. It didn't take long for the boy to grab Duncan and put him in a headlock as he started choking him a bit, swearing and insulting him. Duncan didn't try to fight back, rather than get his arms from constricting his neck.

"Hey! That's enough of that!" a girl shouted in the distance. The boy let go and they all looked over to see a girl walk over, wearing a blue blazer with a white sailor top and a red ribbon on the center, a blue skirt down to her knees, and blue Adidas to match. What was most distinctive about her however, was her jet black hair that when nearly to her ankles, which were tied into two pig tails. Her name was Daisy Sasori. She was the Student Council President.

"Break it up people!" she called. The two boys walked off, giving her dirty looks. "We'll deal with you later Dunce!" they said, disappearing in the crowded hallway. Duncan rubbed his neck which felt like it had gotten a rug burn. "You OK Duncan?" she asked.

Duncan nodded, fixing the straps on his backpack as he said, "Yeah, I've had worse than what those two assholes can do," he said. Daisy slightly smirked at his language as she continued on her way. "OK, be more careful next time," she warned. "Will do." he called back to her.

**A Few Hours Later...**

School was almost over, the last class of the day in session. Over the course of time, a lot of students were sent to the nurse's room and called home. An ambulance even came once, but the same thing has been going on for a week now, so it wasn't very uncommon.

Celeste walked down the hallway, her red hair bouncing behind her. She wore a black graphic tee with red letters on the chest that said "Dreamer", along with gray skinny jeans, white converse and black and red striped finger gloves. Beside her was another girl named Ianthe Deveroux, or more commonly known as Ian. She was 5'6 with light olive skin, grey blue eyes, and black perpetually ruffled chest length hair and horizontally cut bangs. She wore a loose green t-shirt, khaki cargo shorts, and a pair of ratty old sneakers. The two of them carried a pile of books to one of the classrooms on the third floor.

"Man, why couldn't the teacher just go get these damn books herself?" Celeste complained.

"Well the day's almost over. At least we got to skip that boring lecture of hers. And hey, if we walk slowly then it'll kill more time," Ian chuckled. They slowly walked across a freshly mopped floor near the boy's bathroom. Ian still found a way to somehow slip in the puddle as she dropped all the books on the ground. "Crap," she said.

The books smacked against linoleum flooring and onto the wet spots. "Smooth moves," Celeste teased. "Oh shut up," Ian laughed to herself lightly. Celeste set her books down and helped Ian gather hers up. They suddenly heard footsteps behind them. Celeste turned her head and smiled when she was Duncan walking down the hall. "Hey," she said, "What are you doing in the hallways?"

"Well Mr. Brandon was putting everyone to sleep in class so I just said I needed to use the bathroom," he explained.

"So you're ditching?" Ian suddenly broke into the conversation. Duncan doesn't really recall ever meeting her before, and being as he wasn't very social, he suddenly grew very quiet. "Um yeah," he said awkwardly.

"Better hope your mom doesn't find out, ha," Celeste said, gathering the last of Ian's books. Ian picked her books up, turning towards the two so she could join the conversation. She only re-dropped the books when she looked to the far end of the hallway. Duncan saw her facial expression and turned to look as well, just about making the same shocked face.

There was a boy wearing a blue t-shirt and jeans, holding his shoulder as he ran down the hallway, panting. On top of that, the whole left side of his body was painted in red blood. He was sweating, tears running down his face as he seemed to be running towards the three teens. "H-Help me," he whimpered in almost a whisper, stopping before them.

"Holy shit, what happened to you?" Celeste asked.

"T-They're... They're everywhere down there... f-from the nurse's room. People are d-dying!" he exclaimed, gathering the attention of some students in the classrooms. "What do you mean 'They'? What are you talking about?" Duncan asked. Before the boy could answer, he passed out, falling face first onto the ground. By now, some teachers came out of the classroom, literally interrogating the three students and checking to see if the boy is OK. Teens in their classrooms watched out of curiosity, murmuring things to themselves.

"W-What's going on?" Ian stammered, backing away from the scene.

Before anymore words could be announced, the intercom came on. There was much commotion in the background of it, before the principle started speaking. "ATTENTION EVERYONE! THERE IS AN EMERGENCY ON THE MAIN FLOOR. TEACHERS, YOU HAVE ORDERS TO LOCK YOUR CLASSROOM DOORS AND KEEP ALL OF THE STUDENTS INSIDE UNTIL FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS ARE GIVEN. THIS IS NOT A DRILL! REPEAT, THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"

The principle's voice sounded panicked and almost hurt. "I WILL REPEAT. ATTENTION EVERYONE! THERE-"

The intercom screeched and turned off, leaving everyone frozen still. The intercom soon came on again, but what once sounded like commotion in the background now turned into screaming. "No... No! Stay away from me!" the principle screamed. "Someone help! No... Aah!" His screams filled the school, deafening some and scaring the rest. The intercom finally turned off for good and the whole school was dead silent.

One girl screamed from the second floor, and it was all it took for the whole school to go into a sea of chaos. They rampaged through the halls, running for their lives. Duncan and the two girls were pushed and bumped into, having a hard time keeping their balance. A few students slipped on the wet floor, and people stepped over and on those people, nearly stomping on them to death as blood began to cover the floor.

Duncan looked down at the injured boy who'd passed out, seeing as everyone was merely running over him. "We need to get out of here!" Celeste shouted.

Without a second thought, Duncan picked the boy up, wrapping his arm around him as he looked over at the two girls and said, "Follow me!"

They pushed through the crowds of teenagers and teachers, making it into the nearest classroom. Once they were in, Duncan set the boy down on one of the desk while Celeste closed and locked the door, turning the lights off as well so no one would see them. "I'll go call the police," Ian said, rushing over to the phone on the teacher's desk.

Duncan stood near the wounded boy, putting his ear against his nose as he gasped. "He's not breathing. I think he's lost too much blood!" he said, looking at his shoulder that was in stark red liquid. "We need to wrap this up or he's not going to make it-"

"What the hell?! The lines are busy! How can the police lines be busy... that means there's a large amount of people calling the police. Shit," Ian swore.

"What the hell is happening?" Celeste started to cry. "Things were normal just this morning... I know everyone's been acting weird lately but... but that doesn't clarify what's going on! Are we going to die?" she cried to herself. "We're going to die aren't we? Fuck!"

Duncan stood up and went over to Celeste who'd gone into fetal position near the door and started crying. He crouched down near her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Cell, stay calm OK. You need to keep a calm head; I'm sure everything will end soon-"

"Keep calm?" she interrupted, her voice rising, "Keep calm? How the hell am I suppose to keep calm when there's something that we don't know, going around doing that to people," she pointed at the boy. "Well going around with your pessimistic attitude is only going to make things worse!" Ian shouted. Duncan noticed the boy was coughing and went to attend to him.

"I'm your friend Cell but please, if you think that 'we're going to die' then can you keep it to yourself. We're already scared shitless and the last thing we need to hear is that!"

"Guys," Duncan broke in. They simply ignored him. "What do you know Ian?!" Celeste retorted.

"Guys!" he shouted, seriousness in his voice. They looked over at him, seeing that the boy was just a limp piece of meat now. "He died," he murmured silently. Celeste continued to cry and Ian only swore under her breath. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"I'm positive. There's no breath, no heartbeat... nothing," he whispered. Ian could tell he was angry about everything, scared even. The screaming in the hallways continued but everyone was silent in the classroom. Duncan walked over to one of the windows and looked outside, his eyes growing wider when he saw that people were getting tackled outside by students. They were being killed! He couldn't bring himself to look at it as he turned away.

Everyone seemed shocked when the boy suddenly started coughing again. "What the-" Celeste said.

Ian went over to the boy as she looked down at him. "Look, he's OK!" she said. Her relieved expression changed into something scary when the boy's eyes opened. They were glassy, gray and looked cold and dead. He seemed to growl at her presence and his skin slowly turned into a cool icy color.

_It had begun..._

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**Please don't forget to review! Thanks :)**


	4. Surviving the Threat

**Chapter 2: Surviving the Threat**

Ian stood in place, looking at the boy as he sat up from the desk slowly, his head hung low. Everyone stared at him, confused. "Hey are you OK?" Ian asked, watching as he took a few closer steps to her.

Out of nowhere, the boy's head shot up, slobber spilling out of his mouth. He looked hungry. His arms stretched out towards her, grabbing her arms as she fell backwards, yelping in shock. The boy held her on the ground as she pushed him back a bit. "What the... hell?!" she exclaimed. The boy seemed to put all his weight on her and was trying to bite her neck. Ian, using all the strength she could muster, looked over at Duncan and Celeste as she shouted, "Are you guys just going to stand there or are you going to help me?!"

Celeste sat up, wiping her tear covered eyes as she ran over to Ian's aid, pulling the boy's arm and causing him to fall to his side. "What's his deal all of a sudden?" Ian asked, brushing off her green shirt. By now, Duncan had a pair of red, long scissors in his hands from the teacher's desk._ Something's wrong,_ he thought,_ something's_ very_ wrong._

The boy scrambled back onto his feet, ignoring the girls behind him as he looked over at the lonely boy. Duncan clinched his teeth, his heart now racing as he pointed the scissors at him. He was scared.

"Hey man," he said, "I don't know what's up... but if you're smart you'd stay away," he said. The boy only growled, blood starting to pour out from his lips. "...The hell is wrong with you..?" he said.

The boy dashed over to Duncan. Without thinking, he lifted the scissors up and pointed it at the boy, expecting him to stop. But he didn't. Duncan stared wide eyed as he watched the scissors impel through skin and through the boy's chest. Ian screamed slightly in the background and Celeste looked confused. Duncan couldn't believe what he'd just done as blood began to pour onto his hands. The boy's body went limp. Duncan shook at the sight of a dead body which he'd killed himself, feeling extremely horrible now. "Fuck..." he murmured.

Duncan eased his grip on the scissors, and was a little disturbed that the boy was still standing. Suddenly, the boy looked back up and tried to bite Duncan. He stepped back, and while doing so the boy shoved him, causing Duncan to harshly bump into the window. The glass shattered. Its broken shards fell on the two boys. He winced when they cut the edges of his skin near his neck and collar bone. The boy, despite being cut by the glass piece, continued to push at Duncan, clamping his teeth at him.

"What the hell are you?!" he exclaimed, trying to push him off. Celeste and Ian began to run over to the seventeen year old's aid. Duncan stepped over to his side and slipped out of the boy's grip, watching as his neck fell straight onto a giant, poking piece of glass still attached to the window. The shard went straight through his neck and the scissors still lodged into him went deeper.

By now, blood had sprayed all over the walls and began to drain from his body. He stopped moving. The sheer sight of a dead body made Duncan start vomiting in the corner of the classroom. Ian ran over to his side. "You're bleeding!" she pointed out.

"I'm fine," he quickly said, looking over at Celeste who seemed to be standing like a statue near the boy. "What's wrong?" Ian asked.

"H-He's still..."

Before she could finish, the boy had lifted his hands up and placed them on the edge of the window, slowly pulling himself off the glass shard. "Oh my God," Ian said, feeling vomit slowly rise up her throat as well.

The boy lifted himself off the shard, turning around as he looked at his bait. "There's no way... there's no way..." Celeste murmured to herself. She then turned her head over to the others as she shouted, "He's already dead but he's still moving! He's not alive anymore!"

Not being able to explain, she ran over to the two teens when it tried to grab her again. "What do you mean he's not alive?" Duncan asked, wiping his mouth off.

"You saw it yourself! You just stabbed him in the chest and he didn't react to it. Then he was impelled by a fucking glass shard right through his neck and he's still coming! He's not alive anymore! He's dead!" Celeste explained. Ian looked over at the boy who noticed them huddle in a corner behind the desks. "If he's dead then... then how are we supposed to kill him?" Ian asked.

"I don't know-"

All three of them ran around the class as the boy chased after him. He was fast, blood soaked all over him. Within the chaos of zigzagging through the desk, Celeste tripped over a couple of scattered books on the ground, falling flat on her face. Ian and Duncan, who had already ran away, looked over at her in fear as the boy climbed on top of her. Celeste screamed, pushing the boy away from her. He seemed to be putting his weight on her, and her arms began to shake as she tried to keep him off. She screamed again.

"Celeste!" Duncan called, "Grab the scissors!"

She looked down and saw them still lodged in the center. As quickly as possible, she yanked them out, screaming as she swung it straight into his ear. His blood squirted onto her clothes and he stopped fighting, his body becoming heavier. She looked up at him and saw that his dead eyes had rolled back behind his eyes. He stopped growling.

Celeste pushed the body off her, crab-walking away from it. "So that's how you kill Them," Duncan said, "Stab Them in the head."

Celeste didn't say anything as she stood up and turned around to look at Duncan and Ian. "Are you OK?" Ian asked.

Not another second passed before Celeste broke down and started crying in place, the two teens running over to her as they pat her on the back. "I killed him," she cried. "I killed someone!"

"No you didn't," Duncan said, "He was dead anyways."

**...**

An hour went by as they just seemed to be sitting in the classroom, listening to the screams of others in the hallway. The sun was starting to set and the school seemed to become more and more infested. All hope of making it out alive was dwindling, and they feared they wouldn't make it.

Searching through the backpacks left behind by students, they managed to pull out five water bottles. Someone even had a pack of Band-Aids and a few people left behind gold-fish crackers and packaged cookies; but it still wasn't much. Luckily, someone on the baseball team left their bag behind, and inside was a metal Easton Baseball bat. Ian also found a broom which she broke the end off of to use as a weapon. Duncan was thankful to have Ian around, who knew basic first aid and knew that if they didn't clean his glass cut skin it'd get infected. In the end, she just took one of the water bottles and cleansed it out with that.

Celeste went through the teacher's drawers while Duncan sat in one of the desk, drinking a water bottle. Ian looked out the classroom window performing reconnaissance as she watched Them run down the hallways, eating students and teachers. It was sick, but she knew she needed to learn about Them._ Better to know Their abilities than head out blind,_ she thought.

"Hey guys, I found the remote to the TV," Celeste said, pulling out a small black remote. The three of them gathered around a small TV up in the corner of the wall. Celeste pressed the "On" button and the TV turned flickered on.

"Turn to channel 5," Duncan said. Celeste flipped to the channel.

A news reporter woman stood in front of the camera, scared as she held a microphone in her hands. "It is unknown how this phenomenon started," she explained, Celeste turning the TV up, "But a lot of people are injured due to this situation. The streets are in chaos and the police advise that you stay indoors at _all_ cost. Do NOT leave your house or the current building you are in at any cost. It's not worth it. In time, a soldier will come and pick you up. From there, he will bring you to McChord AFB and Fort Lewis where there is food, fresh water and beds for you to stay at until the situation is resolved. Unless you are already on the free-way, do not try and come here on your own. The streets are-"

The woman was cut off by the sounds of gunfire and the woman yelped. The camera man aggressively swung his camera behind him. There was a hoard of those... things. "Oh my God," the reporter said. Police men started shooting at Them, and maybe one or two of Them died before the police were over-run, tackled and gnawed on.

The camera fell to the ground and there was screaming. The screen went static.

Duncan walked over to the white board as he groaned. "Now we know it's not just happening here," he said.

"You say that as if it's a good thing," Celeste snapped back. Duncan didn't say anything as he leaned against the wall, trying to keep a calm composure. "M-My Dad," she began to stammer, "He's out there somewhere probably wondering if I'm alive. He's... he's all the family I have. If he dies..." Celeste started wiping tears from her eyes.

Duncan started to think about his family; his mom and dad. He couldn't imagine them being dead but he was low on hope if they were alive or not. _And if they are,_ he thought,_ I'll probably never see them again._ Just thinking about them made him angry and confused. He wanted to give up, almost knowing they wouldn't make it out of this alive. He shook his head, trying to drop the thought.

"Um... your name is Ianthe right?" he pointed at the girl with black hair. She nodded, "Just call me Ian," she said.

"Uh, sorry about not asking earlier. I um... usually don't talk much to stranger- people I don't know. And um, honestly this is the most I've probably talked this whole week," he chuckled. Ian gave him a soft smile as she grabbed the broom stick. "Now, you were watching the hallways. What do you figure is going on?" he asked.

"Don't call me crazy but... I think They're zombies."

"Zombies?" Celeste and Duncan said in unison. "Yes," Ian said, "Honestly when I watched the hallways, it was like something straight out of a movie. I hope you guys believe me on this, I'm not bullshitting you."

"I believe you," Duncan said, walking over to the white board. He erased everything on it, picking up a blue marker as he wrote "Zombie" on it. "Were you able to pick up any information on them?" he asked.

"They're fast," she said, "I haven't seen any of Them alone either; They're always in groups of two or more which means They might be able to communicate with each other. Also, I think they only attack what they can hear or smell, because I've obviously been poking my head out for the world to see and They haven't so much as taken a glance in my direction. I also believe They're overpowering in numbers but alone... like the boy we brought in here, seem easy to handle."

Duncan numbered and wrote down everything she said. "So, we know that the only way to kill Them is to smash Their heads in... like zombies," Duncan said, "Which means if it's like the movies, then if we get bit... no, if you get any bit of their fluids or DNA in you, you are as good as dead."

"What makes you say that?" Celeste asked.

"In 28 Days Later, all it took was a drop of blood to get in that one guy's eye before he turned into a savage cannibal. Guessing from how long the boy was running before we brought him into the classroom, I guess it takes a few minutes before you actually turn."

"OK," Ian interrupted, "We know Their abilities, and we know where the town is gathering. I'd say our best bet is to take what we can carry, pick up whoever isn't infected and head to the freeway. That way we can get into base."

"How would we do that?" Duncan asked.

"We could take the bus," Celeste suddenly said. The two looked over at her as she plopped down on a desk. "Think about it," she said, "The activity bus can carry just about twelve people; the keys to it are in the maintenance room of the office, right near the exit. We can pick up stragglers and head out to base."

Duncan wrote down everything Celeste said, as he turned to the two girls. "So," he said, "Is this the plan then? Take the bus and head to base?" he asked. They nodded in an agreement.

"Who will be leading this escape?" Celeste asked.

"I think Ian should," Duncan suggested. "You were smart enough to conclude on the zombie's abilities and you were the one who thought of the plan."

Ian shook her head, pushing her bangs slightly out of her face. "I'm not one for the leading roles... maybe you should be the leader." she pointed at Duncan

"Me?"

"Yeah, you helped make the plan as well, and you're certainly not afraid to kill. And even if you don't want to be the leader, it can be a democracy."

Duncan walked over to one of the backpacks as he dumped all the books out, replacing them with water bottles and Band-Aids. He threw the bags over his shoulder and picked up his Easton baseball bat. "We can figure it out later," he said, "But for now, let's get our asses out of here."

The three of them started towards the doors.

"Let's go."

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**Thank you all for your support and interest. It really means a lot! :)  
****Sorry this chapter wasn't longer... or that interesting but the next one will be. Please review your thoughts, suggestions, and criticism. See you all later!  
****P.S., there is a poll on my profile about today's chapter. Please check it out, thanks :)**

**P.S.S. I did a really poor job proof reading this, sorry :/**


	5. Get Out Alive

**Sorry I've been AWOL guys, I had finals (and I'm at a private school so I was working my ass off studying). But now that the finals are over, it's summer break. Since it's summer break, I can now type the chapters whenever I want, depending on my couch potato laziness. But for now, here's another chapter. I looked at the poll results on if you think going to base was a smart idea and a lot of you disagree. That's very interesting, very interesting indeed *strokes chin*. Also, thanks for all the feedback guys, you guys are the best! So enjoy this chapter! :)  
****PS This chapter is really long...**

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**Chapter 3:  
****Get Out Alive**

"Looks like we're clear."

Celeste closed the classroom door, looking over at Ian and Duncan. Ian clutched onto a broken broom stick, her black and slight ruffled chest length hair standing up a bit. Her green shirt and khaki cargo shorts were clean from blood, but her face was slightly covered in sweat. Duncan stood behind her, his Easton Baseball bat resting on his shoulders. His neck was cut from the glass but wasn't bleeding anymore, but his black zip-up hoodie and jeans were stained in blood. His short and cropped, nearly black hair was slightly plastered to his head. Celeste looked the worst; her black tee-shirt was soaked in blood along with her skinny jeans. She felt the need to comb her straight, mid-back red hair which was stuck to her fawn skinned face. On top of that she didn't have a weapon.

"You guys remember the plan right?" Duncan whispered, "Run straight down the hallway, take a left and cut through the wood-shop room. Once we get through there, take a right; there should be stairs going to the second floor. There, we can just run straight down the hallway to the other stairs, which are closest to the office and nurse's room."

"Got it," Celeste and Ian said together. "OK, on my mark."

Duncan held his hand up and counted down. _5...4...3...2...1..._

Celeste threw the door open silently, taking another look around the empty hallway. The three of them stepped out. Some of the windows were smashed, broken glass lying on the blood covered ground. There was a body every now and then, along with book and bags. It was quite a ghastly sight. The sight of it made the teenagers sick to their stomachs and they held their breath a bit. Every now and then from the other side of the hall or from downstairs they could hear screaming. The smell made it worse.

"God," Ian said, "It's worse than I thought."

"How could all of this happen within an hour?" Celeste asked.

"Try not to think about it. We'll be out of here before you know it," Duncan said, running down the hallway as the two girls followed. For some reason, the hallway seemed longer than it normally did; maybe because this time their hearts were racing and they were running for their lives. Before long they reached the corner of the hall, making a sharp turn to the left as they reached the second part of the third floor's hallway.

"Things are going way smoother than I thought they would," Ian whispered to Duncan. "Yeah, that's why I'm worried," he said.

They stopped at the door that had a small sign on the top that read "Wood Shop." Duncan stood in front of it, looking down both the hallways._ All clear,_ he thought. "Now, once we cut through here, the stairs will be directly on the other side. Things should be much easier once we get through here."

He peered through the door's window, swearing under his breath when he saw that the lights were off. "Cover me," he said, turning the knob slowly. Eventually, the door clicked and smoothly opened, a cold breeze blowing on them. _Here we go,_ he thought.

They stepped inside, trying to feel on the walls for a light switch. Ian closed the door behind her, making sure none of Them saw them enter. "Hey," Celeste whispered, "I found the light."

She flipped the switch, proud that she found it for them. _Good, I'm making some use of myself,_ she thought. That moment of bliss soon vanished when she looked over at her two friends, their faces struck with fear. Celeste slowly turned around, soon standing mere inches from one of Them. He was at least 6'5, extremely fat and his mouth was covered in blood. In the distance were three dead and mangled bodies of former students.

Out of reflex, Celeste screamed, quickly covering her mouth when she realized what she'd done. The giant zombie looked down at her and seemed to smile as it tried to grab her. Ian looked out the classroom's window, seeing that a hoard of Them heard her. "Son of a-"

She cut herself off when she saw Celeste dodging one of Them, making a giant circle around it. Ian, noticing that They were starting to bang on the door, ran over to it as she pressed her back on it, trying to hold it close. Duncan ran over to the zombie, swinging his bat at the zombie's head. It took a few steps to the side, staggering. Once it regained its slouched posture, it turned to Duncan. In a fit of zombie rage, it swung its fist at him, colliding right with his jaw as he dropped his bat and fell on his knees.

He coughed when pain flared up on the right side of his face, blood slightly coming from his lip. _Did my lip ring shift?_ he thought. Duncan looked up and saw the beastly zombie rushing over to him, about to chow down on his new bait. Celeste, looking around for something to hit it with, found one of the smaller axes used for chopping wood leaning against the wall. Like lightning, she picked it up, running over to him as she swung the ax at the zombie's head.

**SWOOSH!**

Blood squirted in the air, and the zombie stopped moving. Duncan could see the top part of his skull fly into the air and land beside him. Immediately he scrambled to his feet, staring at it in disgust before looking up at Celeste. She held onto the ax, trying to catch her breath. "Shit man," he said, "Thanks."

"OK guys..." Ian struggled to say as she felt the door being pushed harder against her, "I know you guys are thankful and all... b-but we should really get going before this door breaks down."

Duncan looked over at Celeste who was adjusting her hair again. "Keep the ax, it'll come in handy."

Duncan signaled for Ian to come over as they started running through the wood shop building. Right when Ian grabbed her broomstick and left the door, it burst open. A hoard of Them came running through. The three of them jumped over dead bodies and fallen objects, trying not to slip in blood trails or trip over the supplies.

Eventually, they reached the end of the door where they began to exit the wood shop room. Once everyone was out, Duncan held the door closed as he pointed down the end of the hall. "T-The stairs are over there! Go, I'll try and keep the door closed."

Ian and Celeste ran through the hall, reaching the steps as they ran down. Once Duncan saw that they made it without any complications, he let go of the door, jogging over to rejoin them. He looked back, seeing that They still hadn't managed to break the door down._ Good,_ he thought, _That'll buy us some time._

Before long, he reached the edge of the stairs as he sighed in relief. Everything soon went wrong. His shoes made contact with a puddle of blood as he lost his footing. "Fuck," he swore under his breath. His feet seemed to tangle with each other and he fell forward.

He stared in agony as he fell face first on the hard steps, feeling his nose crack a bit. He came tumbling down, rolling like a barrel. He hit the wall and rails a couple of times before reaching the bottom. Ian and Celeste turned to look at him, seeing that he was laying on the ground in a bad way.

"Duncan," Ian exclaimed, rushing over to his aid. Celeste looked over, seeing that more of Them were coming in their direction. "Dammit," she said, swinging her ax at their heads. Ian crouched down over Duncan, seeing he was just lying there. She could see some blood coming from his face as she gasped. "Hey, Duncan! Are you OK?" she asked, shaking him a bit.

Duncan opened his eyes, coughing a bit as he sat up. Blood was running from his nose and his vision felt wavy. "Whoa dude, I thought you were dead," she said.

"Guys!" Celeste called for them, "I could use some help!" She swung her ax fiercely again, and gasped when it slipped out of her hands and hit the wall. "Shit-"

Before she could finish her statement, one of the zombie's grabbed her arm and threw her against the wall, her forehead making contact with it. She yelped in pain, falling to her knees. Ian stood up, using her broomstick to hit the zombie's away. _I don't have time to bash their heads in, or enough hands to hold Them all off on my own,_ Ian thought. "Guys, come on; get up! We're going to die!"

Duncan tried to scramble to his feet, but he suddenly felt the sharpest amount of pain arise in his chest as he yelped, falling back on his knees._ Dammit, I think I broke a rib,_ he thought. He reached over to his baseball bat, the pain growing worse as he clinched his teeth. He tried harder when he saw one of Them grab Ian's broomstick and toss it away from her.

She stepped back, staring in fear as They began to jog to her. She screamed.

All of a sudden, the three teens heard a wisp like noise, watching as each of Them fell one by one. Ian looked at the back of Their heads, seeing that nails had been shot into Them. Before long, all of Them fell to the ground; dead. She looked into the distance and saw three more teenagers hiding behind one of the classroom doors.

There was a girl holding a nail gun, wearing an off-white shirt with black dress pants. The shirt was long-sleeved and somewhat skin tight. Her pants reached her shins and she had sneakers on that were black so they looked somewhat formal. She had C-cups breast which are close to D's. Her hair was long, wavy and black as it reached her mid-back.

Standing next to her were two boys. One of them ran over to Ian, checking to see if her and her friends were OK. He was wearing a zip up long sleeve turtle neck sweater, fully zipped which covers his white t shirt that is tucked into his dark blue faded jeans held up by his dark brown buckle belt which is hidden by his sweater. Lastly, he wears a pair of fully black colored running shoes with a similar digital watch on his left wrist. He had jet black razored hair that was messy.

"Are you guys alright?" he asked.

"Who are you?" Ian asked.

"We're the ones that just saved your ass," he replied.

"Come on Carlos, not now," another boy said. He was wearing dark jeans, a green t-shirt and brown tennis shoes. He also had messy but parted to the right hair (and he was ginger). "I'm David Reiss," he greeted. "That's Carlos," he pointed at the other guy. Ian noticed they both were holding baseball bats like Duncan.

The girl with the jet black hair and the nail gun walked over, smiling a bit. "I'm Liana," she said bubbly. Liana looked over at Duncan, seeing him wipe blood off his nose and grabbed at his ribs. Ian walked over to Celeste, helping her up as she brushed her clothes off. "Thanks," Celeste said, "If it hadn't been for you guys, we'd be goners."

Duncan scrambled to his feet, coughing lightly as Celeste and Liana ran over to him. They helped him stand up as he continued to clutch onto the side of his ribs. "Did you break a rib?" David asked.

"I don't know... but I can manage. The sooner we get out of here the better."

"How exactly are you planning to do that?" Carlos asked. Duncan hesitated, not sure if he wanted to tell them about it. _Who knows what these guys are like,_ he thought. Before he could think about it, Ian said, "We're gonna steal one of the buses and head to McChord. That's where the town is meeting at."

"You guys are welcome to come along if you want," Celeste offered.

"Yeah, well sure we'll come with you. We didn't exactly have any plans on what to do," Carlos said, itching his messy hair. Celeste grabbed onto her ax, smiling a bit to herself. "The more help the better right? Alright, we'll lead the way," she said.

The trio soon turned into a group of six as they started down the hallway. As they ran, Duncan noticed a pile of dead zombie bodies on the ground. _Sheesh, they took care of a lot of Them,_ he thought. Duncan then noticed that Liana was carrying a backpack full of things. "What's that in the bag?" he asked.

Liana looked back at him, her cheeks a bit rosy. "We stopped near the nurse's room and gathered everything we could from there... it was a train-wreck though. There were three more students with us but-"

They rounded the corner, running down the stairs again when a group of Them noticed the teenagers. The three new addictions to the group were about to attack when Duncan and his friends stepped up ahead. "We'll get these guys, clear what's up ahead," Ian said.

She swung her broom stick at one, letting the zombie fall to the ground before she stabbed it right in the eye. Liana crouched, aiming her nail gun before shooting at least four of Them right in the forehead. While Celeste covered the two girls, the three boys ran up ahead, following Duncan. "So where to?" David asked, swinging his bat at one of Them.

"We need to get to the main office right over there. Then we can get the keys to one of the buses and be on our way," Duncan explained.

Carlos smiled with a cocky expression, "Fine by me," he said. He was about to swing his bat at one of Them when a nail pierced its skull, sending it falling to the ground. He looked over at Liana who was right behind them. "I've got your back, don't worry," she said.

"Gosh Ana, save me some kills," Carlos laughed.

Before long, a majority of the zombies on the first floor were taken care of, leaving a clear trail for them to the main office. Ian, Celeste and Liana stood outside the main door once they arrived, watching for any sign of Them. "We've got the door," Ian said, "The keys to the buses should be in one of the drawers near the principle's desk."

"Got it."

Everyone else went into the main office. There was blood coating just about every inch of the walls. The vice principal's corpse was mangled, lying on the front desk. Duncan and the others tried to ignore it. "Damn," Carlos said, "I wonder if he was one of the first to go."

"Never mind that, help me look for one of the keys," Duncan said, opening the door to the principal's office. The lights were off and blood was everywhere. It smelt of rotting flesh and it was very hard to see. They slowly walked inside, looking around.

While they walked around, Duncan grabbed his ribs, feeling them throb again as he cleared his throat. "You OK?" David asked.

"Y-Yeah, I've gone through worse. Don't worry about me," he said.

They stopped in front of a shelf covered in many drawers. They knew that there were too many drawers for them all to look through in this short amount of time, but they had to try. They all started pulling drawers out, their patience growing more and more thin when all they seemed to find were papers.

"Shouldn't these drawers be labeled or something?" David asked.

"I can barely see since the lights are off," Carlos said.

Duncan walked over to the door, feeling for the light switch. He flipped it on once he found it. "Shit!" he suddenly heard.

Duncan turned his head around, seeing that one of Them was standing in the corner the whole time. It reached out for David, grabbing at his arms as he backed into Carlos. He gripped onto his baseball bat as he swung at the zombie's head, watching it fall into the desk. Duncan ran back over to the drawers, yanking them out more violently as he desperately searched for the keys.

"Hey guys," Celeste called, "You might want to hurry. More of Them are coming."

Duncan swung his head back over to David and Carlos who were beating the head of the zombie in. Duncan saw the labels on the drawers now and quickly spotted the one that said "Bus Keys". He ran over, pulling it out as he looked through them all. He eventually pulled out the key that said "B8".

"I got it!" he said.

"Great, now let's go!"

All six of them ran out of the office, looking back as they saw more of Them coming. "We're going to Bus B8!" Duncan told everyone, "Bus B8!"

Before long, they reached the front doors where they shoved them open. They were now outside. The sun was almost blinding, the air smelt soiled; the buses were so close. "Come on, we're almost there!"

The six of them of them began to zigzag through the parking lot, trying to avoid the countless hoards of Them. Once they had gotten through most of the cars, they regrouped. Sprinting, they tried their hardest to get to the buses. "Dunce," Celeste called to him. He looked over at her. "I don't know if we're gonna make it. They're catching up!" she said.

"Don't say that," he said, smiling lightly at her, "We're only a few yards away!" He looked back, seeing that They were sprinting extremely fast after Them, only a few feet from catching up._ Stop looking,_ he told himself,_ Keep your eyes on the buses._

With that, he turned his head forward, his eyes making contact with the buses. Little did he know what followed after that. Before he could react, he heard a girl scream and screeching breaks. The sound of human bones and hard metal made contact, a loud yelp being shouted into the sky.

Someone had gotten hit by a car; and when Duncan looked back he couldn't believe who the victim was.

_Just my luck._

* * *

**Bum, bum, bum a cliffhanger. I felt like this chapter was sloppy, so a re-cap would be that Duncan might have broken a rib, they met three new survivors, they got the keys to the bus, and someone got hit by a car. You'll have to read the next chapter to see who it was and what happens after that. So stay tune folks and don't forget to review!**

**-Sorry it took so long to post, my laptop broke :P  
-Another poll is up on my profile  
-I proof-read but did a really poorjob**


	6. Freedom

**Thank you all for the reviews, means a bunch. If I could virtually hop out of this screen and strangle you all in a hug I would. I especially like those reviews from "Symmetry Obsessed Shinigami", "jelly on this hot god" and "Patty Loves Giraffes", you guys really show an interest in the story so thanks (though everyone reading does so thank you all as well). Either way, I love keeping you all on your toes so you can expect more dramatic end twist like that in the future. I'm also a really gory and violent person, so you'll definitely expect torture later on (I really treat every character like crap). I'm sure you all are just eager to know who got hit by the car and if they make it out of the school. So I'll finish holding you guys back and let you read. Enjoy~**

* * *

**Chapter 4:  
****Freedom**

**THUMP!**

Duncan turned his head, seeing that a car had pulled out of the parking lot. The driver obviously wasn't watching where it was going and hit someone, sending them flying a couple of feet into the distance. The car didn't stop though; it just continued down the road and out the school. On the bright side, it hit a few of Them and caught the surviving ones' attention, giving the group sometime to catch their breath. When he'd turned to see if anyone was hit, he noticed that it actually wasn't anyone in the group that got hit, but someone else.

A few feet away from them was a girl, the victim of the car. She was lying on the ground, not moving. Duncan recognized who the girl was, causing him to stop immediately. The whole group stopped as well, looking up at him. "What's up with you all of a sudden?" Carlos asked.

"A girl back there just got hit by a car," he said. "Do you know her?" David asked.

"Yeah."

"We don't have time to go back and get her; you see Them coming," Carlos said, "She'll be gone before you know it."

"Still, we can't just leave her, knowing that we could have saved her," Duncan said.

"It's suicide-" Before Carlos could finish, Duncan handed him the bus keys and said, "Go get the bus. By the time you get it started I should be running over with the girl."

"You're crazy," Celeste said, "We've wasted too much time already talking about it."

"Get to the bus, go!" he ignored her.

"I'll cover you," Liana said, reloading her nail gun. Duncan nodded, running over to the girl as Liana followed. Carlos watched the two of them run over to the girl, thinking about how stupid he was acting._ No wonder he's called Dunce,_ he thought as they started to run towards the buses.

It didn't take long for Dunce to reach the girl as he grabbed her shoulder, shaking her lightly. The girl was wearing a blue blazer with a white sailor top and a red ribbon on the center, a blue skirt down to her knees, with blue Adidas. She had feminine body with D-cups, and jet black hair put in pig tails that went nearly down to her feet. He shook her a bit harder. "Daisy, are you OK?" he asked. Daisy Sasori coughed, turning around as she looked up at Duncan. Her cheeks were a rosy red and her eyes were watering as she coughed.

Liana crouched beside her, staring down at her. "Can you run?" she asked. Daisy tried to pick herself up off the ground, and yelped in pain as her sides seemed to vibrate. Liana looked over to the distance, seeing another hoard of Them running over to the three of them. _Damn it all,_ she thought, turning around so she could shoot Them with her nails.

Duncan was aware that she probably broke a few ribs in the collision, and he didn't have a problem with carrying her to the bus._ But I don't know if I could make it over there in the condition I'm in either,_ he thought. He found himself in a tight place as the zombies seemed to get closer and closer._ I could ask Liana to carry her... no I won't do that. I'm the man here aren't I-?_

"Um Duncan, I'm out of nails to shoot at Them. If we're taking her with us we better go now," Liana said. Duncan grabbed Daisy's left arm, lifting her up lightly. "Grab her other arm," he said, "We can make it."

**...**

The other four teenagers were near the buses, still looking for Bus B8. _What the hell,_ Carlos thought,_ how hard can it be to find a freakin' bus?!_

"Guys!" Celeste shouted, "I found it!" She pointed at the bus near the edge of the gates. They ran towards it, whacking away any zombies that came near them. Once they reached it, Carlos pressed a button on the keys that made the doors slowly hiss open. Once completely open, they all piled inside, setting their weapons down and taking their seats. Carlos looked back, seeing that more of Them were running over to the bus about to board it. He pressed the button, watching in agony as the buses closed as slow as molasses.

"Come on! Come on!" he shouted. Right when one of the zombies reached the bus doors it closed. Everyone sighed in relief, feeling a lot safer. "Wait," Ian said, "Who's going to drive this thing?"

"I can," David volunteered. Carlos passed him the keys as David sat down in the driver's seat. Igniting the bus, he pressed a few buttons and pulled the stick. "Here we go."

Once everything was locked and loaded, he pressed his foot on the gas pedal and started driving through the parking lot. "Hey, I did it," David exclaimed, "We might make it out after all!"

"We still need to get Duncan and Liana though," Ian said, "Don't forget that."

David turned the bus to the right, drifting it a bit as he ran a few of Them over. Once completely turned, he could see Duncan and Liana running over with the girl in their arms. "I'll be damned, they got her after all," Carlos said. David opened the bus doors, speeding over to them. Once he was close to them he slammed on the breaks. "Hop in!" he shouted.

Duncan and Liana climbed onto the bus, carrying Daisy in their arms. Once they were on, David closed the doors and slammed on the gas, speeding through the parking lot. He didn't really care what he ran over; as long as it meant that they'd make it out of the school alive.

The two teens set Daisy down on one of the chairs, watching as David sped towards the school gates. "Hang on guys!" he shouted, flooring the bus. Before Liana and Duncan could get to their seat he crashed through the gates, throttling the two of them into the walls of the bus. Duncan could feel his ribs throb violently as he gasped, trying to catch his breath. Within the rest of the bus, everyone was cheering on how they'd made it out alive. They made it.

Celeste who was sitting next to Ian, engulfed her in her arms as she screamed, "We made it! We're alive!" Carlos sat off in a seat by himself, laughing in joy. David smiled as he drove down a long road surrounded by many trees. Liana, seeing that Daisy was just about fine and as happy as every one else, brought Liana to tears as she cheered along with the group. Duncan, still in pain smiled as he made his way to the back of the bus, resting his bones.

**...**

By now, the sun was nearly out of the sky making the view a dark orange color. The bus seemed to drive down a never ending road through the evergreen trees, trying to find the road to McChord. Eventually, David grew tired of driving and it was dark. "Let's stop here," he said, "We've put some distance between us and the school; it's getting dark too. We can continue driving in the morning."

David parked the bus near the edge of the road. Now, the moon was in the sky, covered by thick clouds. They weren't so much in the middle of the woods anymore; to the point where they could see parts of the city's lights in the distance. In a way it was comforting knowing that there were more survivors in the city; but still the wait was agonizing.

Everyone was worn out from the day. Celeste and Daisy were the first to fall asleep, curled in a ball on an individual seat trying to forget about today's struggles. Ian sat alone, staring into the woods with dreary eyes before finally falling asleep. David took the liberty to get comfortable before falling asleep, using someone's jacket as a blanket. Carlos sat alone near the front of the bus, his bat still clutched in his hands as he tried his hardest to stay awake.

Liana stood up from her seat, walking over to him. She brushed her hair behind her ear, smirking at him. "You should sleep," she said, "After all that work we did."

"I don't want to," Carlos said, not bothering to turn and look at her. Liana staid quiet, knowing what he was thinking about. "Their deaths weren't your fault-"

"Yeah well it feels like it," he interrupted her. Carlos then said more quietly, "It feels like it."

Liana bowed her head, not looking at him. "Try and sleep, you'll forget about them in the morning."

"I doubt it's possible to forget their faces... their screaming..." Carlos murmured.

Liana knew he wanted to be alone as she looked into the distance of the bus. Duncan sat in the back seat, awake with his bat on his lap. His head was pressed against the window, a bit of dry blood stained on his nose and lips. She walked back over to him, stopping before him. "Are you not tired either?" she asked, leaning against the gray leather seat.

Duncan ignored her.

Liana sighed, pulling at the hem of her white shirt now stained in blood. She knew everyone had a hard day today, and that they were tired._ How can we sleep after all of this chaos though? That's probably why I'm still up,_ she thought. She also knew that Duncan obviously wasn't in the mood to talk, but still she tried anyways. "Are you OK?" she asked.

Still no response.

Deciding to give up, she sat in the seat in front of him, using the backpack full of medicine as a pillow to lie on. Right when she got comfortable, she heard him mumble, "I'm fine." Lifting her head, she looked over the seat, seeing he was staring out the window still. Liana could see he was worn out, from how slowly he was breathing and how heavy his eyes were. She rested her chin on the top of the bus's leather seat, smiling lightly. Her big blue eyes were bright and her cheeks were pink.

"That was a really noble thing you did earlier... going back to get Daisy," she complimented, "It's nice to know there are some people I-... we can count on."

Duncan, still not taking his eyes off the window quietly said, "Thank you."

"Are you tired?" she asked. Duncan rubbed his forehead, bringing his dreary eyes to hers. "Yeah," he answered.

"Maybe you should sleep then," she suggested.

"I can't..." he slowly said, taking his eyes away. Once he said that, the emotionless face he wore so well held a hint of melancholy as he continued to stare out the window. Liana knew why he was acting the way he was. "We all had a hard day Dunce. Don't put all that stress on your shoulders because you'll regret it later," Liana said.

"...I wish it were that easy..."

"Huh?"

"Nothing... shouldn't _you_ try and get some sleep too?" he asked, looking back at her again. The sudden notion caused her to look away as she pressed her back against the seat again. "I'm too alive to sleep," she said, "It'll bite me in the ass in the morning but oh well I guess. We're on the bus, away from the school and McChord is all the way in Lakewood and Tacoma. We've got a long ways to go if the city is as bad as we think. But at least we're safe."

"For now," Duncan said.

"I appreciate your optimism Dunce," Liana giggled lightly.

"Hey Liana," Duncan suddenly said, "Earlier, when we were running down the hallway and I asked about your backpack you said there were more of you guys. What happened?"

Liana was quiet for a moment before replying, "There was about five of us: Me, Carlos, David and these two students. They were dating each other and I could tell they really cared about one another... because we tried to hide in the computer lab and they wanted to go, so the boy went and opened the door. They got to him. We tried to tell the girl it was too late... but she didn't want to leave him. She literally threw herself at Them."

For some reason as she spoke, Duncan couldn't tell if she was about to start crying or not. "They died to together... but I guess it wasn't so bad. I mean... I would have wanted to die with the one I loved too if I couldn't be with him anymore. This world was already going to hell, even before these things decided to show up. Living without a reason now just seems pointless. But still... I feel like I could have done something about their deaths..."

It was quiet for a while. Liana felt like the whole bus could hear her conversation with Duncan. _Not like it matters though,_ she thought. All and all, she didn't want to end the night on a sour note, so she turned to face Duncan again. "Hey, shit happens right? Didn't really get what it meant until now. Let's say we catch some sleep huh?"

Duncan nodded, feeling his eyelids shut a bit. "Goodnight," Liana said, trying to catch some sleep herself.

Later that night he woke up to the faint sound of crying. Sitting up from his seat, he looked over the seat in front of him. He wasn't shocked to see Liana curled into the fetal position, crying in her sleep. She whimpered out faint words that sounded like "no" and "sorry".

He sighed, slightly knowing what she was going through with all this craziness going on. It happened so quickly and they were just going to have to accept it. Duncan rested back onto his seat as he closed his eyes, thinking about what she said earlier._ Yep,_ he thought,_ Shit happens._

* * *

**I honestly think a lot of people forget about the emotional factor of a zombie apocalypse. These aren't just badass teens; they're human beings that woke up not knowing that each passing minute could well be their last. They might not see their families anymore and their lives were literally cut in half.  
****But anyways, thanks for reading, please review, a new poll is up and I hope you guys have a lovely day. Adios!**


	7. On This Lonely Road

**Chapter 5:  
****On This Lonely Road**

**The Following Morning...**

The white sun peeked over the branches of the trees. The roads from front to back were empty from any signs of life or death. Patches of blue sky peaked through the thin blankets of clouds. Frost covered the dirt and the windows of the bus, making the inside a freezing chamber. Birds chirped blissfully, the wind whistled through leaves; they could hear creek water in the distance running. It feels like only a few minutes have passed since night had fallen, but now it's already morning.

Duncan groaned in his sleep as his eyes twitched. Though he'd been asleep for a couple of hours it felt like he'd only had his eyes closed for five minutes. What woke him up however was his growling stomach.

His eyes slowly opened; out of reflex he stretched, quickly grabbing at his sore ribs when he did it. In that instant of yawing, he'd forgotten that the world had ended yesterday. He was about ready to hop off an imaginary bed and get ready for school before he realized he was on a bus with six other teens. His back hurt from the uncomfortable position he'd slept in against the steel wall. His head throbbed and he was freezing. On top of that, it felt like his stomach was turning inside out. He then remembered the last time he'd eaten a legit meal was his dinner from the other night.

Duncan sneezed, his nose now throbbing from when he fell down the stairs. It seemed like everything was in pain at the moment. _Things won't get better until we find some place safe to stay,_ he thought.

Near the front of the bus, he could hear voices talking to one another in a low tone. Stretching and popping his knee caps a bit, Duncan sat up from his seat, looking down the aisle. He could see that just about everyone was awake, just sitting in their seats. Digging in his pocket, Duncan pulled his cellphone out so he could check the time. He sighed when he saw that it was ten in the morning.

"Hey," Duncan suddenly said, "Who's still asleep?" His question was practically answered when everyone's head turned to the back of the bus. "Everyone's awake," Celeste said.

"What's the holdup then?" he asked.

"The holdup," Ian began, "is that we seriously need a game plan. We've gotten out of the school and we've made it a guaranteed checkpoint that we're going to McChord but what are we going to do while getting there? The base is all the way in Lakewood; on a good _normal_ day it takes about 45 minutes to get from where we are to there. But now the zombies are around. The freeway is probably packed with tons of cars, and if we decide to go that route it'll take us at least three to four hours to get there."

"Why not the streets then?" David asked.

"Right, we can take the streets if you don't want to take the freeway. It'll probably be faster but the roads are unpredictable. We don't know how many of Them there are and we don't know how hostile some of the survivors might be. Plus I wouldn't be surprised if there were soldiers out there shooting whatever moves in their sight," Ian explained.

"Then let's take the freeway," Duncan said, "Better safe than sorry."

"I agree with you," Ian said, "But to make matters more difficult: We're all hungry. We're gonna need to stop and get some food and water. A change of clothes would be nice too, as well as better weapons if we can get them. So regardless of what we do, we're gonna have to cut through the city. Hopefully not all of it, but the route leads to it unfortunately. We've all come to an agreement that if this whole group isn't a democracy then you're the leader Duncan, so what do you say we do?"

Duncan didn't like having all of this power over the group. He didn't really like making the decisions and didn't know why Ian just didn't take over instead. He sighed, scratching the back of his head as he sat back down in his seat. "Our main objective is McChord, but what's most important is food. So the first store we stop by, whether it is a corner store or a Walmart is where we'll get our food. Weapons and a change of clothes are an optional route if we have the time, being we already have some weapons. After that we head straight to I-5; by then we should be seeing people and soldiers. Any questions?"

He assumed everyone's silence meant they all agreed with the plan. "Alright then, let's get this show on the road."

David stood up from his seat, combing his messy ginger colored hair to the right as he slightly jogged over to the driver's seat, starting everything up. Duncan continued to sit in the back, while Liana went to sit next to Daisy and make sure she was OK. Celeste sat beside Ian at the very front seat, Carlos three seats behind them.

After a couple minutes of waiting, the bus slowly started rolling down the road. They were off.

Before long, the trees they drove through slowly vanished and the city of Seattle was now visible in the distance but was also a long ways away. The sky scrapers and the space needle still looked in good condition from a distance, but they could all assume it was much worse than it looked. Every now and then they could see black clouds of smoke float into the air, each member of the bus flinching a bit when they saw something explode. Their homes were as good as gone.

Most of them didn't want to look at it, but it wasn't much of a surprise to them; it wasn't anything they weren't already expecting.

The bus drive seemed long and silent as they drove through trashed out neighborhoods. Some of the houses were already broken into, a few of them up in flames. Every now and then there were cars that would speed pass them and into the city; sometimes they'd even see people running away. No one bothered to stop and pick up stragglers in the neighborhood though._ This isn't the school,_ David thought,_ we don't know what any of these people will do if we let them on._

Every couple of minutes, a jet or a black hawk would come soaring through the sky, heading towards the city. Though the bus wasn't facing any problems, it was hard for anyone to really settle down and feel safe.

Liana looked over at Daisy who was sitting silently in her seat. Liana smiled at her new companion. "Hi," she said, "So you're Daisy Sasori right? I think I had some classes with you before. I'm Liana, but some people call me Ana," she greeted, putting a hand out for her to shake. Daisy, smiling at her friendly introduction shook her hand. "Nice to meet you," Daisy said.

"So how are you holding up?" Liana asked.

"My ribs hurt and I'm hungry, but hey I'm not dead," she answered. Liana laughed a bit, looking out the window when she saw two more jets fly over their heads. "Man," Liana began, "I'm not really sure if I want to go through the city. Who knows what's in it. From this view it doesn't look that bad but from how our lucks been I wouldn't bet on it."

Before long, the bus exited the suburbs and reached a small town in Northwest Seattle. Unlike the city of Seattle, Northwest Seattle was much like Tacoma and Lakewood; basically a large town. As they drove down, they kept a look out for any signs of Them. The streets were surprisingly empty, which made the group nervous. Singular cars would speed down the road every now and then, but there were no signs of life or death on the sidewalks. House windows were smashed in; some cars were crashed into building where they found some of Them gnawing on corpses.

Duncan could only guess that survivors were probably evacuated away from the town, either heading to base, the city, or another state.

"Hey," Ian pointed towards the front of the bus, "There's a mini mart right over there."

David drove into the small parking lot, parking the bus. Once everything was still, he looked at the side and rear view mirrors, making sure none of Them were near. "OK, we're clear for now," he said. Duncan grabbed the backpack full of medicine, dumping it out on one of the seats. "Alright," he said, "Do any of you guys have your cellphones with you?"

Celeste and David raised their hands. "Alright, Celeste already has my number, and David you can get it from her. I'll go in and get some food and drinks, text me if you see any of Them coming near the store-"

"Wait, you're not going in there alone are you?" Celeste asked.

"Good point, Carlos come with me," Duncan asked.

Carlos, swearing below his breath, picked up his baseball bat as he walked over to the door. Duncan put the backpack on his back, picking his baseball bat up as well. The two of them stood near the exit, looking back at the other students sitting on the bus. "Be careful Duncan," Ian said, "You too Carlos."

Duncan thumbed her up and Carlos said, "Whatever," under his breath as they stepped out of the bus. The Mini Mart was like a corner store, connected to smaller buildings like hair salons, comic book stores and coffee shops. The two boys walked over to the main entrance as they peered through the glass door covered in advertisements and propaganda posters. The lights in the store were on, thankfully, but they could see blood trails on the floors and a knocked over cash register on the ground.

"Do you think one of Them came in there?" Duncan asked.

"That's what she said," Carlos responded. Duncan looked at him with a serious expression on his face. "Dude, now's not the time for that."

"OK, OK. I don't know though, probably," he answered.

"That's comforting."

Duncan pushed the door open, flinching a bit when a small bell at the corner of the door rang, letting whoever may be in the building know that someone just entered. Carlos entered after Duncan, his nose scrunching a bit. "Smells like shit in here," he commented. "Well we won't be in here long, help me gather any sort of food and water you can find," Duncan said, rushing through the mini mart. He stepped over the blood on the floor, trying not to slip in it as he went to the back of the small store near the freezers. Opening them, he grabbed just about any drink he could get his hands on. Meanwhile, Carlos stood near the cash register, gathering any bits of money he could get. Duncan literally emptied the freezer, looking back at Carlos.

"Really?" he said.

"Hey, you never know when it might come in handy," Carlos shrugged.

Duncan started through the aisles now, grabbing bags of chips, fruit cans, and anything else that wouldn't spoil if they had to stay out longer than they needed to. Once Duncan had gotten to the final aisle, he found the store clerk's dead corpse lying on the ground. Hesitating, Duncan stopped at its feet. "Holy Shit," he said.

Carlos ran over to Duncan, stopping behind him when they saw the body. "Is he still alive?" Carlos asked, poking the body with the end of his bat. They were a bit relieved when they saw that it didn't move. "Someone else must have taken care of him before we came in," Duncan said, find two bullet holes, one in his left knee and another straight through the forehead. "Hey, it saved us the trouble of having to do the dirty work," Carlos smiled, "Did you get all the food?"

"Just about. It's a bunch of junk food though, other than some water bottles I managed to get and a couple cans of fruit."

"Well we won't be out here for long; there's probably plenty of food on base anyways. Now let's go, I'm starving."

**...**

The bus sat parked in the mini mart's parking lot as the teenagers ate. The hunger in their guts slowly subsided once they ate a satisfying amount of food, washing it down with water and soda. Besides eating though, the teenagers began to bond. They learned from Liana that she is allergic to dogs and oranges, and she really likes anything to do with nature. Ian is allergic to penicillin and has an older brother in college. Celeste's father is abusive, lost her mother at a young age and she based her band "Dreamer" on daily problems. David's a real happy-go-lucky guy, and knows a lot about hand guns and assault rifles. Carlos is one of those cool, popular kids with a foul mouth and has a crude sense of humor but overall is a good guy. Daisy was born in Japan, knows how to make medicine from scratch and knows archery. Duncan's dad was a Major in the USMC and he planned on joining the Navy SEAL's when he graduated.

They all sat together, conversing and eating their food, making sure not to eat all of it. The atmosphere was at last calm after the storm, with no sign of Them but at the same time no sign of living people either, which was quite strange; but all the same, they were happy they didn't have to worry about their lives for a remainder of their time.

Before long, almost two hours of sitting in the parking lot went by. The teenagers were done eating; now conversing with each other or thinking to themselves about what lies ahead. Liana, seeing that the weather was nice for once in Seattle, decided to get some fresh air. _Best breathe it in now before I'm trapped in the bus for another couple hours,_ she thought as she stepped out of the bus.

Immediately after stepping out, a gust of warm air blew on her, giving her goosebumps. She inhaled it in like a drug, stretching her arms up as she smiled, sighing in relief. "Feels good to be free," she said to herself. "Hey, what are you doing?" she heard Duncan say at the door behind her. Liana turned to look at him, twirling a finger through her hair. "Just getting some fresh air; don't wanna stay in the bus all day ya know?" Duncan nodded, looking off to the side as he was about to take a seat.

"Come out with me," Liana suddenly said. Duncan looked down at her, a bit confused. "You look like you could use some fresh air too," she smiled.

Duncan, contemplating whether or not he really wanted to leave the bus was cut off when Liana grabbed his hand and pulled him outside. "Come on, don't be such a stick in the mud," she teased, bringing him outside. They stopped near the back of the bus, standing still like statues. Liana stretched her arms out, sighing once more. "Don't you just love the breeze?" she asked, her big blue eyes observing him, seeing that emotionless expression again.

"Not really," he responded.

"You're such a norm," she said, laughing a bit. She paused when she saw that Duncan was awkwardly half laughing at it, not finding her comment all that funny. Leaning against the bus, she looked up at the clouds, pointing out the shapes in her head as she looked over at Duncan. She'd be lying if she said she didn't think he was cute._ He's so close-guarded though,_ she thought.

"I'm really glad we can relax a bit today," she suddenly said, "After all that stuff that happened yesterday."

"I'm honestly kinda nervous," Duncan suddenly said. "Why is that?" Liana asked.

"It's been really quiet. You'd think that the town would be in complete and utter chaos after everything that's happened. It could all just be in the city but I'm still-"

His fears all came true when suddenly a loud scream filled the air.. "What the hell is that?!" Duncan said, looking over at her. "It's a girl," Liana said, pointing near the alleyway between one of the building. The girl stood in the alleyway, waving her arms around as she screamed. "HELP ME!"

* * *

**When Liana said, "Feels good to be free," I kinda wanted to say, "That's 'cause you're in America!"**

**Well that was extremely dramatic and a slight twist of endings. I felt like things were going too calm so BAM! Here's a problem. It gets worse in the next chapter. I have another poll on my profile and IT'S IMPORTANT, so you should check it out. Please review, hope you enjoyed, stay tune!**


	8. Beginning of Anarchy

**You guys are sooo nice, thank you all (^-^)/  
****I know this is completely irrelevant with the story, but I just felt like sharing the joys of the house I live in. (FUN FACT) I live about a block from McChord AFB and Fort Lewis (so I can't leave my house for five minutes without seeing some sort of military man/woman outside, and I'm not a tag-chaser but I think they're pretty hot in uniform). Perks of living near one of the largest bases in the United States is that I feel safe knowing that there are people near that are trained to protect their country (though I personally wouldn't really rely on soldiers in a zombie apocalypse). But something I don't enjoy about living a block from base is when they're training. I almost always know what they're doing or when they're setting up for something because they're so damn loud. Like when North Korea was threatening to nuke the U.S.A., not only did five pure white drones fly over my house in the middle of night, but Fort Lewis was BOMB TRAINING! Three in the morning! Not to mention every couple of days McChord does flight practice in big ass airplanes that fly barely a mile high from my house.**

**P.S. Oh, I hope you guys don't think I'm only focusing on Duncan (I'm not trying to if I am but he IS the main character). After this chapter, I'll be focusing on WAY more different things, just so you know :)**

**P.S.S. This chapter's pretty short.**

**Anyways, poll results are in, here's what the question was and results:  
**_**Should someone die in the next chapter?  
****Yes - 80%  
****No - 20%  
**_**Someone's gonna die in this chapter then, and I already know who ('cause I'm the author ^-^), So Enjoy~**

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**Chapter 6:  
****Beginning of Anarchy**

David and the others on the bus could hear the screaming from outside, taking away the calm atmosphere and replacing it with confusion and fear. "What the hell is that?" Daisy asked, standing up from her seat. "I don't know," David replied, "but it's coming from outside."  
By now, Celeste and Ian were pulling down the bus window, looking down at Liana and Duncan who were still standing out there. "Hey," Ian said, "What the hell's happening?"

"There's a girl screaming for help over there," Liana pointed in the alleyway. Celeste, groaned, seeing the girl waving her arms back and forth. "The dipshit's gonna draw every fucking zombie into this area," Celeste said.

"Are you going to help her?" Ian asked.

"Yeah," Duncan said, "Throw down my bat and get Liana a weapon too."

"Do you want any more of us to come out with you?" Carlos asked. "No," Duncan said, "Stay in the bus and watch everyone in case this is a trap... or if any of Them show up."

Celeste grabbed her ax, sliding it through the window as Liana grabbed it; she then slid Duncan's baseball bat through as he grabbed the handle. "Celeste," Duncan said, "Remember the cellphone thing. Keep it on just in case I need to text you something," he said. Celeste nodded, pulling her small, black cellphone out of her pocket. Liana looked over to the alley again, seeing that the girl was still standing there crying as she waved her arms back and forth. "Come on," said Liana, "We should get going."

Duncan nodded, following Liana as they ran across the street. Ian, Carlos and Celeste went to the other side of the bus, watching as Liana and Duncan ran to the alleyway. "Do you see any of Them near?" David asked. Daisy went to the back of the bus as she looked through the window. "There aren't any nearby at the moment, but if that girl keeps screaming, there will be."

Liana and Duncan soon reached the girl as they paused. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, with blood sprayed all over her red, spaghetti string tank top and black, pleated skirt. Her hair was jet black and long, going to her waist. She seemed very relieved that the two of them had come to her. She wiped tears from her eyes, smiling brightly. "Oh thank God you came! Thank you so much!" she said, continuing to cry again.

"What's wrong?" Liana asked.

"It's my friend," the girl cried, "He needs help."

"What happened?" Duncan asked.

"There's no time to explain! He'll die if you don't hurry, please!" The two teenagers looked into the girl's eyes, and they saw that she was sincerely begging for them to save her friend. The two nodded, the girl smiling brightly at their response. "Oh God, thank you. Please follow me."

The girl started sprinting through the alley, Duncan and Liana following her. "We didn't catch your name," Liana said to the girl. She turned her head to look at them, "It's Emi," she replied.

Emi led the two unsuspecting teenagers through the alley, until they reached a steal door that was slightly open. "It's in here, please hurry!" she said, opening the door as she ran inside. When Duncan and Liana entered, they realized it was the back entrance to a diner. The white walls and gray tiled floor were splattered in blood and guts as they saw the body of the cook lying on the ground, his brains everywhere. The fryer seemed to be on and the refrigerator was wide open.

Emi cut through the kitchen, leading to the door where the dining room tables were. The room was dark, but they could tell chairs and tables were scattered everywhere, along with a couple of bodies which were dead. Sunlight came in from outside the windows near the front of diner; there, they could see that there were other survivors running around, screaming as the zombies ran through the streets, grabbing whatever They could get a hold of. The town was going through fallout.

Duncan and Liana paused when they suddenly heard screams of pain. "Was that your friend?" Liana asked.

"Yes, he's really hurt, you have to help him!" Emi cried, leading them into another part of the kitchen. They went through another door and pretty soon they were in the meat locker. The room was freezing as animal meat hung on hooks, blood dripping from them. As they ventured through it, the screaming grew louder._ I guess she wasn't lying after all, _Duncan thought, holding his bat close.

Emi suddenly stopped, shaking violently as she turned to face the two. "So where's your friend?" Duncan asked, a slight bit of harshness in his voice. Sending chills down their spines, Emi smiled deviously. Duncan's muscles tensed up when Emi suddenly shouted, "Do it now!"

Before he could react, he suddenly felt something fast and hard collide with the back of his head, sending him down onto the ground. Right before he blacked out, he heard Liana scream.

**...**

"They've been gone for too long?" Ian said, looking over at the alleyway.

"Do you think something bad happened?" Carlos asked.

"I think we should go and see if everything's OK. We don't know if that girl was lying or not," Daisy said. The whole bus seemed to stare at the alley, trying to see if they were coming back soon. They grew worried when they saw no signs of them. "I'm worried," Ian said, "Something must've happened."

"What do you want to do about it?" Carlos asked. Suddenly, Daisy stood up, grabbing Carlos's bat as she walked over to the entrance of the bus. "Where are you going?" Celeste asked, watching as she pressed one of the buttons to open the door. "I'm going after them to make sure they're OK," Daisy answered.

"You can't go by yourself, that's suicide," Carlos said, walking over to Daisy, "and besides, you're in no condition to be going out there after what happened yesterday."

"I don't see any of you guys stepping up. They're most likely in danger and the longer we wait here, the more likely they could be dying." With that, Daisy hopped out of the bus, making her way to the alley way. "Daisy wait!" Carlos shouted, coming after her. Daisy ignored his calls, prancing over to the alley as she clutched the bat tightly. She could feel her ribs throbbing from the collision of the car yesterday._ I have to keep moving though,_ she thought. She was suddenly stopped when she felt Carlos grab her shoulder, turning her the around swiftly.

"What is it?" she snapped at him, smacking his hand off her. "You need to get your ass back to the fucking bus before something bad happens," he warned.

"Who the hell made you in charge?" she asked, "None of you guys are trying to go and see if they're OK and I know for a fact they're in danger!"

"All the same, you shouldn't go and get yourself killed."

"Guys!" they suddenly heard Ian screaming from the bus. They both looked up. "Guys!" she shouted, "They're coming!Get back to the bus-"

Before she could finish, Carlos heard Daisy scream behind him, nearly making him jump out of his skin. He turned and saw one of Them grabbing her hair, pulling her onto her back. Just when Carlos was going to help it was too late. The zombie had started chomping on her neck. Daisy screamed as blood squirted out of her neck, painting the sidewalk. Carlos ran over to the bat she had dropped, picking it up as he swung it at the zombie's face. Once it fell back, Carlos beat its face in, its brains going everywhere. Carlos then turned to Daisy.

She cried on the cement as she bled out, murmuring out things to herself. "Shit," Carlos said as he looked back, seeing a hoard of Them running down the street. Not knowing what to do, Carlos instinctively picked Daisy up from the ground, sprinting back to the bus. He entered, everyone gasping when they saw her. David ran to the front of the bus, shutting the door before They managed to get in.

Carlos frantically set Daisy on one of the bus seats, her blood getting everywhere.

"She got bit!" Carlos exclaimed, "She's fucking bit!"

"Why'd you bring her back then?" David asked.

"I couldn't just leave her out there to be eaten-"

"But now she might turn on the bus!" Celeste said.

"Well it's too late now," Carlos retorted, "She's already here."

"Oh God..."

Everyone on the bus looked back at Ian who was looking out the window. "T-They're everywhere," she said, "They're coming this way." Celeste went over to Daisy, trying to stop the bleeding as she turned to face everyone else. "What are we going to do? If those things surround the bus then we won't be able to move," she said.

"How about I just run Them over?" David said. "That won't work," Celeste said, "The bus wouldn't be able to handle it."

"What about Duncan and Liana, they're still out there?" David said.

"We're gonna have to leave 'em-"

"We can't do that! What if they come back and see that we left them?" Celeste said.

"You guys need to hurry and make a decision, They're coming closer!" Ian warned.

"Look," Carlos said, "I don't want to leave them either but Daisy's already bit; God knows where those two are_ and_ if they're even OK and those freaks are only a few seconds from not being able to do nothing at all. Even if we do stay and wait for them, how the hell will they get in if hoards of Them are crowded around the bus?"

Celeste for some reason hated at that moment to admit he was right. It's suicide to wait for them when one of their members is already severely wounded and a hoard of Them are coming. "Guys!" Ian said, "They're almost near!"

"Cell," Carlos said to Celeste, "You have your cellphone right?"

She nodded. "At the next stop we make, text him our location so we can meet up again." Celeste nodded, turning her attention to Daisy again. Carlos then turned to face David who was ready to go.

"Floor it!"

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**Oh No! Duncan and Liana fell in a trap, Daisy was bitten and the bus had to leave the other two behind. All hell is breaking loose!**

**I personally hate the way I wrote this chapter and wouldn't mind beating my head in with a brick right now. God, I suck at insane drama writing! AHHH I'M GOING INSANE! Forgive me for the shitty action and what not, the next chapter will be better, I promise!  
****Please review your thoughts, another poll has been posted! Stay Tune! Adieu!**


	9. Murder

**SPEEDY RECAP TIME!**  
_**A zombie outbreak has just taken place around the world. At a high school in Northern Seattle, Washington, a group of teenagers just recently escaped on one of the school buses. Though some of them are already mentally being affected by the situation, they're still holding on strong and carrying on their journey to McChord AFB/Fort Lewis. They'd successfully looted one of the abandoned corner stores when suddenly a girl named Emi comes shouting for help for her friend. Duncan and Liana go with Emi to see what's wrong while the rest of the group sits in the bus and watches out for any signs of Them. Duncan and Liana however are soon set into a trap when Emi betrayed them. Meanwhile, Daisy was bit by one of Them when she went to be of some back up. The bus had to leave after a hoard of Them randomly came running down the street, leaving Duncan and Liana trapped in the meat locker with Emi and her friends. Much more is about to happen.**_

**Note: Since the group is split up now, the chapters will switch from each group. This chapter will focus only on Duncan and Liana while the next chapter will focus on the others on the bus. It will continue in this pattern until either they meet up or something happens. (I'm making up every chapter as it goes, nothing is planned out)  
****This chapter will recap where Liana and Duncan were being led before he was knocked out by Emi and her friends. Enjoy~**

**P.S. (To my Mom who's reading this story as well... sorry about all the swearing)**

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**Chapter 7:**  
**Murder**

Emi led the two unsuspecting teenagers through the alley, until they reached a steal door that was slightly open. "It's in here, please hurry!" she said, opening the door as she ran inside. When Duncan and Liana entered, they realized it was the back entrance to a diner. The white walls and gray tiled floor were splattered in blood and guts as they saw the body of the cook lying on the ground, his brains everywhere. The fryer seemed to be on and the refrigerator was wide open.

Emi cut through the kitchen, leading to the door where the dining room tables were. The room was dark, but they could tell chairs and tables were scattered everywhere, along with a couple of bodies which were dead. Sunlight came in from outside the windows near the front of diner; there, they could see that there were other survivors running around, screaming as the zombies ran through the streets, grabbing whatever They could get a hold of. The town was going through fallout.

Duncan and Liana paused when they suddenly heard screams of pain. "Was that your friend?" Liana asked.

"Yes, he's really hurt, you have to help him!" Emi cried, leading them into another part of the kitchen. They went through another door and pretty soon they were in the meat locker. The room was freezing as animal meat hung on hooks, blood dripping from them. As they ventured through it, the screaming grew louder. I guess she wasn't lying after all, Duncan thought, holding his bat close.

Emi suddenly stopped, shaking violently as she turned to face the two. "So where's your friend?" Duncan asked, a slight bit of harshness in his voice. Sending chills down their spines, Emi smiled deviously. Duncan's muscles tensed up when Emi suddenly shouted, "Do it now!"

Liana watched a man jumped from out of nowhere, whacking Duncan on the back of the head with the end of his pistol. Duncan yelped when the sharp pain spread throughout his neck, sending him onto her knees. He fell forward, feeling very weak suddenly. Liana raised her ax, ready to swing it when the man suddenly pointed a pistol at the girl, his index finger on the trigger. "Drop it," he said.

Fearing what was going to happen next, Liana dropped the ax, grimacing. Right after doing that, another man from behind suddenly grabbed both her arms, causing her to scream from the jolt of pain shooting throughout her shoulders. Duncan heard her, looking up at the two men.

They were very tall, large and muscular, their faces hidden behind black ski mask. Emi walked over to the man with the gun, a huge smile on her face. Duncan's attention snapped back to Liana who screamed again, the man wrapping his arm around her neck. "L-Let her go..." he stammered, trying to crawl onto his feet. Before he could do anything, he felt a boot covered foot stomp hard on his back. Duncan shouted in pain, tasting the slightest bit of blood within his saliva.

"Stop!" Liana protested. The man with the gun in his hand looked over at Emi, pointing the glock 17 down at Duncan to make sure he didn't try anything. "So what's the deal Emi?" he asked with a deep voice.

"I saw these guys loot one of the corner stores," she said, "They had stuff we could use."

"How do you know these guys weren't armed?" the man holding Liana asked.

"There weren't a lot of them, and they looked like they only had a bunch of baseball bats'n stuff. We could take'em on," Emi said. The man looked down at Duncan.

"Yo tough guy," the man said, "Here's what you're gonna do: You're gonna take us to your bus and give us everything you got. Follow our orders and nobody gets hurt-"

"Like hell I'm gonna do that," Duncan grunted, "I'd die before leading you to my friends who-"

The man stomped on Duncan's back again as he coughed up more blood. His injuries from falling down the stairs yesterday were flaring throughout his body again. The pain hurt twice as much. The man got in Duncan's face, staring him directly in the eyes. "You gonna listen now asshole-"

Duncan spit blood in his eyes, sending the guy back a bit as he swore under his breath. "You mother fucker," he said, swinging his foot hard against Duncan's abdomen. He screamed from the pain, feeling the man's foot kick him in the jaw, knocking him out. The man, infuriated, pointed his gun down at the unconscious teen, ready to shoot him when he suddenly heard Liana scream, "Don't shoot him!"

Everyone looked over at Liana who was near tears in the man's arms. "Please stop," she cried, "I'll take you to the bus just don't hurt him anymore."

The man snickered, lowering his weapon as he looked down at Duncan. He was out cold._ That little shit won't be going anywhere,_ he thought. "Alright," the man said, "But don't try anything or I'll shoot you," he told Liana. The man with the gun then looked over at Emi. "Stay here and watch this asshole in case he wakes up and tries anything," he ordered.

"Why me?" Emi asked, crossing her arms. "Because we didn't have to let you come with us bitch," the man holding Liana said, "Now don't ask any more questions and stay here and watch him!"

Emi murmured something to herself as she sat down, her arms crossed. The two men then led Liana out of the meat locker, venturing their way through the restaurant again. Liana could feel their eyes observing her, making her gut turn like a washing machine. Now was the time where she wished her breast weren't as noticeably big as they were. She began to fear about her own safety more than anything now.

The three exited the restaurant, making their way through the alley. "Do you know where you're going?" The man with the gun asked Liana. "I'm positive this is the right way," she said, not turning to face the man. They made a sharp turn to the left, heading down more alleyways. One of the men in front of her suddenly stopped however, putting his hand up and looking around. "Something's not right here," he said, "I hear stuff up ahead."

"Then go check it out," the man with the gun said. The other man nodded, running up ahead as she peaked around the brick walls of one of the buildings. He immediately ran back, the small amount of skin showing through his mask flushed with fear. "What's the matter?" asked the man with the gun.

"There's a ton of those freaks in the street!" he panicked. "And I didn't see no freakin' bus!"

"What?" Liana questioned, "I know for a fact the bus was over there."

The two men ignored her, walking down the alley without her as they looked ahead. Sure enough, the street was vacant of a bus but full of zombies. The man with the gun swore under his breath, his hand tightening around his gun. "Shit," the man said, "What are we gonna do Tyler?"

Tyler, the man with the gun, looked down the street. They were everywhere, but luckily they seemed to not notice the trio. "I don't know but-"

Tyler was suddenly cut off when he felt something hard hit the back of his head, causing him to drop his gun. Liana had swung her fist as hard as she could against the back of his skull, her knuckles throbbing from the collision of it. She then drop kicked him, causing Tyler to land face first onto the ground. He yelped in pain. Frantically, Liana skimmed the ground for the gun._ I need to get it before it's too late,_ she thought.

A rush of relief came down on her when she found it lying against the wall. Liana immediately sprinted over to it, reaching her hand out to grab it. Things didn't go as smoothly as she'd hoped however, when the other man shoved her hard against the brick building, the temple of her head bashing against the wall. She felt blood trickle down the side of her face, her head now throbbing horribly. The man viciously yanked Liana from the ground, pressing her back against the wall as he strangled her.

Liana coughed, clawing at the man's arms as she tried to get him off. She could feel the life escaping her being, her legs squirming below her. She then began to think to herself, _Was this the end for me?_

**Meanwhile...**

"Man, I can't believe they told me to stay here," Emi murmured to herself. She sat in fetal position, a few feet from Duncan who was out cold on the ground. She pushed some of her black hair behind her ear, sighing loudly. Emi turned her attention to the boy in front of her, poking his seemingly lifeless arm with her foot._ I guess he won't be getting up anytime soon,_ she thought, standing up from her spot.

Emi made her way to the entrance of the meat locker, shivering a bit._ It's so cold in here,_ she thought as she reached the door. She peeked her head through the door, seeing that the dark restaurant was still empty. She was slightly relieved, looking down at her blood soaked clothing. "I can't wait to change out of these," she said to herself, turning back into the meat locker.

She had expected to still see Duncan lying unconscious on the floor; but in a flash both him and the ax that had been lying on the floor was gone. "Shit," she swore, her back tensing up. Emi slowly made her way inside, skimming the meat locker but not finding a trace of him anywhere. The cow corpses hanging on hooks made it twice as hard for her to look for him._ Where'd he go,_ she thought.

"Hey kid," she called, "Before you do anything just remember my friend's gotta gun. If he finds me dead in here and you try to get him too, both you and your friend will die-"

Emi was suddenly cut off when she felt something hard hit the back of her head. She screamed from the pain before she was knocked out by it. Duncan had used the back of the ax to knock her out. Emi fell to the ground, now out cold.

Duncan inhaled and exhaled roughly, trying to catch his breath and not be mad at the same time. Dry blood stained his lower lip and chin, his ribs feeling as though a truck had just run them over. He put the pain to the side however._ My first priority is to find Liana,_ he thought, exiting the meat locker. Once he was out, he closed the door, making sure she wouldn't be coming after them later.

Duncan ran through and out of the restaurant, sprinting through the alleyway. He could hear some sort of commotion up ahead, causing him to slow down and stop at the corner of the alley. He peeked his head over, seeing that one of the men was groaning on the ground, the other strangling Liana against the wall!

Seeing that she was close to near death or about to pass out, as quietly as possible Duncan ran over, lifting his ax high in the air. Once he was close enough to the man without him noticing that he was there, Duncan immediately swung the ax at him, not thinking about what the outcome would be.

Blood splattered everywhere, painting Liana, Duncan and the wall. Liana could feel the man's grip loosen around her neck, his eyes turning glassy as they rolled a bit to the back of his head. Duncan had swung the ax down on his skull, the metal penetrating it and reaching the brain. Liana screamed from the sight, recoiling from the man. His lifeless body fell to the ground, the blood spreading.

Duncan could feel the adrenaline rushing through his veins, his heart racing rapidly. He'd just committed murder; he can now no longer say that he's never killed. The movies make murder look like no big deal, but in reality it was an awful feeling. _I've just killed someone,_ he thought, his eyes shaking a bit. Despite beating him up and tricking him, he never wanted death upon them, but there was no avoiding this situation. Duncan would have had to of killed one of these guys. The sight of corpse made him almost want to cry. It was a life he'd taken away.

Duncan had almost forgotten about Liana, feeling her small arms suddenly wrap around his shaking body. She pulled him into an embrace, burying her face in his chest as she cried lightly. Not knowing what do, Duncan participated in the hug, burying his face in the crown of her head. He could feel Liana's tears soaking his blood splattered hoodie as she squeezed more tightly around his waist.

"Are you OK?" Duncan asked, pulling away from her and placing his hands on her shoulders. Liana nodded, wiping her tears away. Duncan looked over at Tyler who'd just noticed his dead friend. Duncan walked over to the gun on the ground, turning to look at Tyler. "I'm sorry about your friend," he said, "I really am. Don't follow us and I won't do the same to you. Emi is still in the meat locker and I didn't hurt her; if I were you I'd go get her. Please don't follow us; I don't want to kill you." Though Tyler didn't reply, Duncan could tell he got the message.

He checked the ammo in the gun, seeing that it was fully loaded. "Do you... do you know how to use it?" Liana asked.

"Just as much as the next guy," he replied, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Now we should get heading back-"

"The bus is gone," Liana interrupted. Duncan looked at her, a bit confused. "What?" he said.

"They left. Knowing them, they probably didn't want to. The street is full of Them... if you ask me they got swarmed and had no choice but to leave."

Duncan looked down at his feet in disbelief._ I can't believe they left,_ he thought, sending his rage onto the wall as he punched it with his fist. "Damn it," he said. He then looked over at Liana who seemed unusually quiet. He knew she must be just as confused and scared as him. Duncan walked over to the girl, patting her back. "Don't worry, they couldn't have gotten that far," he said, "Now we should get moving before things get bad."

Liana nodded, looking back as she saw a few of Them making Their way into the alley. Duncan and Liana walked away from Tyler and the dead man, trying to forget that ever happened. Right now, they had a new main objective: Catch up to the bus.

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**The whole time I typed this I was listening to My Chemical Romance's album "I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love" and I've gotta say that it really gets the brain pumpin'.**

**My opinion on this chapter is... eh. Hope you all liked it at least. My Mom's actually reading this whole story too, so it's pretty awkward when I add swearing (mind you I'm a fifteen year old sophomore). There's a new poll up on my profile (which isn't really relevant to the chapter but still would be nice to see your guy's opinion). Please review, comment and make fun of my shitty chapter (I know I keep saying that, sorry). Stay Tune Folks!**


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